


No Place For Love

by TheWrittingAddict



Series: All is fair in love and war [1]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Again tags are hard, Age Difference, Anxiety, Blood and Gore, Canon Typical Violence, Consensual Underage Sex, Cyborgs, Deception, Depression, Dissociation, Empath, F/F, F/M, Far Future, Graphic Description, Graphic Violence, Hallucinations, Holoforms (Transformers), Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, Insanity, I’ll add warnings to each chapter, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Magic Mirrors, Magic and Science, Magical Creatures, Magical Realms, Megatron is kind of crazy, Monster Hunters, Multi, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Non-Consensual Touching, Platonic Soulmates, Politics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Primes are kind of yandere, Psychological Trauma, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Self-Harm, Sexual Harassment, Soulmates, Stalking, Sticky Sex, Strong Language, Tags Are Hard, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Relationship, Underage Smoking, Witchcraft, for good reason, mass-displacement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:29:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22151815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWrittingAddict/pseuds/TheWrittingAddict
Summary: War is defined a period of armed conflict.People paint war as a fight between good verses bad, that one side is black and one is white.But this is not the case. In between these sides of black and white, are areas of gray.When a millennia old war between metal giants is thrown on to earths doorstep, the area of gray expanded.It is often said that you find love where you least expect it.Unfortunately, love doesn’t seem to understand that is has no place in war.
Relationships: Barricade/ Original Male Character(s), Breakdown/Knockout, Bumblebee/Original Female Character(s), Chromia/Ironhide, Jazz/Prowl, Optimus Prime/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/ Original Female Character(s), Original male character(s)/ Original female character(s), Starscream/Skyfire, Thundercracker/Skywarp
Series: All is fair in love and war [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594441
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello beautiful readers! 
> 
> Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Haley but you lovelies can call me Hales. 
> 
> This is a remake of my original story titled ‘My Angel’ under my FanFiction.Net account; TheScarletDespair.
> 
> And before you say anything, yes my FanFiction.Net and my AO3 have different names and that’s because I had my FanFiction.Net first before my AO3.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my story and remember to leave a comment to tell me what you think. 
> 
> No warnings for this chapter so enjoy!

Lafayette shifted for what seemed to be the hundredth time in his seat on the aircraft carrier since they’ve taken off. His hot uniform had made him insanely uncomfortable. The loose strands of hair from his buns were sticking to the back of his neck. The necklace hidden under his jacket and shirt was pinching his throat. His sweat soaked uniform was releasing a pungent odor that made his nostrils wrinkle.

It didn’t help that his team smelled like the pigs on a hot summer day that could use a good hosing down, the small space wasn’t helping either. The other men were talking about their ‘perfect day’ while Lafayette let his mind wonder. 

Lafayette pulled up a pale blue background screen from his bionic eye to possibly cure his boredom. His main screen pulled up to show the usual. His location, currently in Qatar, his self-diagnostic checks, and the time: 15:24 hours.

Lafayette groaned, fixing his messy bun, and hoped that a shower would be available when they got to the Qatar base. He also hoped that the base would include an oasis and margaritas and an endless supply of beautiful women. Of course, he knew those were silly fantasies but still, a man can dream. 

The young man was pulled out of his thoughts when Figgs called out his name. “Ay, Lafayette, what’s your perfect day?” He asked.

The soldiers looked at the recruit curiously. Private Lafayette Belrose has been on Captain Lennox’s team for no more than a year and yet they barely knew anything about him, other than he was a massive flirt, an extremely talented sharpshooter, and a cyborg.

The men had tried to get the kid (a term of endearment he had earned during his time with the older men) to open up to them, but he wouldn’t budge. 

There was a brief pause of silence before Lafayette let a small smile curl on his lips before answering in French accent. “I just can’t wait to see my best friend again. Lord knows she’s probably going mad worrying about me.”

Unsuprisingly, the older men cooed and awed at his answer, obviously not picking up the underlying bittersweetness in his tone.

After their teasing, Figgs gave him a mischievous grin. “Oh, you mean this best friend?” He asked, pulling a photo from seemingly out of no where.

The photos was of Lafayette with Angelique, huddled together, on the top of the Ferris wheel, overlooking the sunset. It was taken during their road trip with the game back at home, a few days before his deployment. He had kept that photo with his person at all time, how did he get it?

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on who you asked) Lafayette could not blush but did feel his heart flutter in embarrassment and reached out to grab it from Figgs, but Figgs tossed it to Epps, who began to examine it. 

Epps let out a long whistle, still looking at the photo. “Damn kid, where’d you find a catch like her?” That gained the attention of the other men and began to analyze the photo.

The girl looked not much younger than Lafayette. She was a few shades darker than the male with nut brown skin, with long glossy jet-black hair what held soft curls, a small wavy strand in front of her face did nothing to deter her beauty. She had a cheerful heart-shaped face with high cheek bones and a delicate nose. The most eye-catching thing about her were her eyes. She possessed large, round turquoise eyes that seemed to gleam with warmth and happiness and love. At a closer look, her eyes held grey and emerald flecks. On top of that, she had ridiculously long and dark eyelashes and full, plump red lips.

Lennox was the first to speak. “Jesus Belrose, That’s your girl?” He asked.

Lafayette, now fully embarrassed, finally managed to snatch the photos back from Epps and shoved it into his breast pocket. “She’s not my ‘girl’. She’s my best friend, practically my sister. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

Epps raised a brow. “Really, how’d you two met?”

Lafayette hesitated for a moment, flexing his cybernetic arm in thought. It was a minute of silence and anticipated stares before he decided to give them the less sad and tragic version on how the two met that also didn’t give out juicy details.

“Her mom and my mom were close friends who worked in the research department in Spartan Industries. We had just moved from France and I was having trouble adjusting but she helped me and soon enough became my best friend. We’ve been inseparable ever since.” Lafayette answered.

Once again, the men cooed and teased the younger male, this time getting a small smile from him. Much to Lafayette’s relief, the men quickly dropped the subject of his personal life and began to tease Lennox about his wife and daughter until they finally landed on the base.

After saying goodbye to his fellow squad mates, Lafayette walked through the base, his eyes squinting in the blinding sunlight. His nose crunched up as he passed by the unwashed soldiers and straight to the communications center. 

His shower could wait, Angelique couldn’t. 

Lafayette felt a pang of guilt in his chest. Before he left to join the military, he had promised that he would call her whenever he could. To make sure he was safe, for her sanity’s sake. But since anyone who was a cyborg and wanted to join the military had to make sure the army knew you were a cyborg, his superiors were being a massive pain in his ass, always bothering him about his cybernetic parts (as if he was the only person in the military with cybernetic parts) and pressuring him to become a carrier of classified information that would involve breaking into his control panel and implanting said classified information into his brains mainframe, shipping him off place to place and being surrounded by guards twenty-four/seven. 

Fuck that shit, was Lafayette’s response to the proposal, in the most polite way possible of course. His superiors were pissed at his refusal but masked it with false acceptance before transferring him to captain Lennox’s team. Will was a nice enough guy, along with his team. He just wished they would stop asking questions about his cybernetic arm and leg. He understood their curiosity, but that didn’t stop him from feeling like a circus attraction. Lafayette was grateful that he had gotten his metal appendages covered by synthetic flesh so his disability wouldn’t be noticeable. 

Lafayette tried to smother his negative emotions as he walked into the communication center of the recreational enter. He didn’t why he bothered, it’s not like she can feels his emotions through a hologram. He took over an unoccupied hologram node, activated it, and logged into his skype account and sent Angelique’s Skype account a request to web chat. 

It didn’t even take a minute before Angel answered. Lafayette didn’t know how much he missed until he saw her with her usual heart-warming smile and eyes that always gleaned in happiness. 

“Holy crow, Laffy! Where in the nine layers of hell have you been?! Speaking of hell, you look like you just came back from it. How’s everything? How’s your team? Seen any sights while on your world travel? Met any pretty girls?” Angel spoke in rapid fire. 

Lafayette laughed. Yep, same old Angel.

“Calm down, Crazy. First, everything is perfectly fine. And for your information, I do not look like hell, I look fabulous as always. My team is great. Besides sand dunes, scorpions, and snakes, I haven’t seen any sights. That’s pretty much the only thing out here. And no, I haven’t met any pretty girls that haven’t tried socking me in the face whenever I try to charm them.” He joked, making Angel giggle that also made him chuckle in return.

“How’s your arm and leg? Having any problems with them?” Angel asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Lafayette waved his hand in the air. “Nah, like I said everything is fine, Angie. Do you want to know why?” He pulled out the small necklace from underneath his shirt and brought it into view. “Because this has been keeping me safe.”

It was a pentagram connected to a gold chain with small rose quartz beads. It was Angel’s before she had given it to him before departing a year back, her most prized possession. In return, he had given her his old, brown leather jacket that had belong to his late father. 

It was an unspoken promise they made: Come home safe. 

His expression turned somewhat serious when he noticed the bags underneath her eyes, though he kept his small smile. “How’s your head?” 

Angel’s smile fell slightly, very slightly that Lafayette nearly missed it. He watched as Angel looked down and played with her fingers. He had a bad feeling…

“Well…It has been a bit…bad this past week. I think it’s because of stress of graduation coming up. Just the other day I had a hallucination that the floor turned into quicksand and tried to swallow me whole.” She admitted guiltily, refusing to look up at Lafayette. Knowing he’ll worry more about her rather than the things he’s dealing with over seas. 

“But the voices have been helping me,” she quickly added in. “Trevor’s making sure I eat and sleep and Sky is helping with my embroidery and Star with my projects. Wait here!” 

Angel disappeared from the frame and Lafayette could hear shuffling and Angel’s muttering and raised a brow in confusion and curiosity. Soon she returned with a basket overflowing with quilted blankets and towels and the occasionally article of clothing. 

Angel pulled out a small baby blanket that was beautifully embroidered as a lush green forest. “Look! I finished this one last night. I think I might give it to Mistress Baba Yaga, her daughter Marinka just had a baby.” 

Lafayette smiled. “It’s beautiful. Tell the cranky old hag I said hi.” He said jokingly.

Angel giggled again. “I’ll be sure to remember that the next time I visit, or maybe one of the voices will just remind me. You know how forgetful I can get.” She laughed at her own joke. 

Lafayette pursed his lips. Angelique has been suffering from hallucinations and hearing voices for four years, ever since…that night. 

She had always said that the hallucinations were horrible and nightmarish, but she had never once said a negative thing about the voices, or as she liked to call them; Trevor and Sky and Star. She claimed that they ‘helped’ her. Such as reminding her to sleep and eat and distracting her from her hallucinations.

It was so bloody ironic how something that would drive anyone mad helped Angelique keep sane. 

“Anyway,” Angel said, snapping Lafayette out of his thoughts. “The last time you called you said that you could be sent home for awhile. What would you like for me to make for you when you get back? I know I’ll make the creamy seafood soup, but what do you want for dessert? chocolate torte cake? eclairs? I can’t recall if you liked lemon meringue pie or not-“

She was cut off when the lights above him suddenly began to flicker on and off, causing Lafayette to instinctively look up at the flickering lights. The sudden power outage caused the hologram screen to glitch, Angel’s image freezing and cracking. “La-la-laffy?” She called out, her voice glitching but could hear worry in her tone.

Lafayette turned back to face the screen to see her worried and slightly frightened expression. He forced his best reassuring smile. “Mademoiselle, listen. If you can hear me, I’ll be home soon, don’t worry. I love you.” He said, hoping his voices sounded as soothing as he hoped. Then the screen went black. 

Lafayette let out a heavy stressed sigh. So much for catching up, he probably made her even more worried. He got off from the seat and made his way outside to the showering units for his long desired clean up.

He couldn’t help the growing sinking feeling in his stomach that something was terribly wrong. 

===

Meanwhile, miles away, an aircraft carrier with the registry number ‘4500X’ was on its way to the SOCCENT Forward Operations base, ambition and determination firing through every wire and circuit in its frame. The humans at the Qatar base made attempts to contact the aircraft and eventually sent two F-22 Raptors to escort the aircraft to the base, unaware of the sinister intentions that it held and the events that would soon follow.

===

It was much later in the evening and the feeling had never left Lafayette. Much to his annoyance, after dinner in the mess hall he was called to the communication center to help for whatever reason. The feeling was distracting him from the database he was currently re-programming (Thank you Angel for your incredible hacking skills!) And he knew Colonel Sharp would chew him a new one of the new databases wasn’t up and running soon. 

But as the hours ticked by, the feeling spread throughout his body. The database was nearly complete, but the feeling was suffocating him. 

He hadn’t had this feeling for a long time. 

Swallowing his thoughts down, he continued with the database. Soon enough he was done and could go to the shooting range were Lennox was and joined him. 

As Lennox loaded his gun, he noticed Lafayette wasn’t his usually cocky and chipper self. He was quiet and had this grim look on his face as he stared down at his favorite gun, a SE-724 energy riffle. 

“Hey, Lafayette. You ok, kid?” he asked. 

Lafayette continued to look down at his riffle, the feeling getting stronger and darker. “No, something…something isn’t right, something is wrong.” He muttered.

Lennox raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Lafayette shook his head, his curls swaying back and forth. “I don’t know. I just have this dark, gnawing feeling in me. Like something is going to happen.”

Lennox furrowed his brows in concern. He reached forward and put a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder, his brown eyes meeting Lafayette’s hazel ones. “look kid, everything is fine. I know what your feeling and that normal in this career, especially on your first year. Nothing bad is going to happen.” 

No sooner had the words left his lips. The first explosion came.

It was so loud that it caused the ground below them to shake, shockwaves rattling their bones, and the lights above them to explode. Lennox and Lafayette ducked down from the exploding sparks above their heads. The explosion caused Lafayette’s ears to ring. 

The first thought about what happened was that a generator exploded or worse, an attack from a terrorist group. Either way, Lennox and Lafayette, with the riffle straps over their shoulders, ran out of the shooting range to see chaos outside. 

Lafayette could see Epps running from the other side of the base towards them. “They bombed the antenna farm! we’re under attack!” he shouted. 

Then he heard shoots being fired and more explosions.

Adrenaline finally kicked in, and Lafayette ran after Epps with Lennox in tow. Lafayette’s blue background screen showed up in his bionic eye to show his increased heart rate and his systems being infused with adrenaline. 

More shockwaves of explosions rattle his bones and flares of white and orange sparks flash, temporarily blinding him each time. Loud shots continued to ring his ears, somewhere in the chaos Lafayette lowered his audio range.

Lennox and Epps managed to get the rest of the team and a few other soldiers as they ran far away from the chaos. 

As they ran, Lafayette looked back at the madness, fire, explosion, and shots being fired and had a stark memory-one that continued to give him nightmares even after all these years.

_Gunshots. Screaming. Chaos._

Past all that, he could make out an enormous, black figure firing energy blasts from its canon. Enhancing his eyesight, he could see that the thing had ruby red eyes. 

===

The enormous black metal and ruby eyed giant, known as Blackout, made its way to the human’s communication center. He ripped the roof of the building, revealing the humans inside, skittering around like insects. A fitting analogy, he thought. 

Blackout ignored them and reached for the database core. He slowly tore the core from its center, wires flaying and white sparks emanating from their ripped ends and sparking him, but he couldn’t be bothered.

He could see from the corner of his optic, the humans figuring out his goal and attempting to stop him by cutting of the hardlines, but it was to late. 

The information from the database core filled his CPU, every synapse firing as he downloaded everything. 

**Classified Files: Sector Seven. Downloaded.  
Classified Files: Project Iceman. Downloaded.  
Classified Files: Captain Arete Delios. Downloaded.**

===

Lafayette continued to follow Lennox and company as they ran through the rows and rows of tanks. Explosions and shots continued to fire in the background as Lafayette watched other soldiers run towards the desert for heaven from the chaos. Now tanks were flying in the air and when landed would cause the ground to shake or land on some poor soul and leave a crimson splat. 

_Fire. Blood. Screaming. Hiding underneath tables as people stampede to the exists and trampled over each other._

Lafayette was to busy focused on the flying tanks and explosions to noticed that Lennox had ran and hide on the other side of row of tanks until he heard Lennox yell from the other side. “Lafayette, what are you doing?! get your ass over here!” 

Lafayette, without thinking about anything else but safety and not the dangers around him, ran out of his hiding spot between tanks towards Lennox. 

Only to get nearly stepped on by a giant, metal foot. 

Lafayette tripped over in freight and let out a yell as another foot slammed, trapping him Infront of the giant robot. 

Lafayette could only try and crawl with his forearms as he stared up in awed horror at the demonic red-eyed Iron Giant. The most terrifying aspect of it, is that It seemed to be just as curious with him as he was with it. It even tilted its fucking head like a cat eyeing a mouse. 

Blackout stared at the human Infront him with slight curiosity but also slight indifference. He was half tempted to blast it into paste but Scorponok tugged on their symbiotic bond and sent a message. Despite what many think, Scorponok was fully sentient and highly intelligent. More so than his fellow Decepticons. 

:::Wait, that human. He looks familiar.:::

Blackout pondered at this. Thanks to the downloaded information in his CPU, he was able to pull up its file based on its facial recognition. 

**Private Lafayette Belrose  
ID Number: 123-45-6789  
Rank: Private  
Age:19  
Medical Notes: 46.35% Cyborg. Left leg and right arm have been replaced with cybernetic parts and covered with synthetic flesh. Metal vertebrae along patient’s spine. Four metal ribs on each ribcage. Two heart chambers have been modified with synthetic tissue and silicon mixed with bio tissue. Both eyes have been replaced with prosthetic bionic eyes. Possess CPU and control panel can be accessed from the back of skull.   
Next of Kin: Azalea Delios (former guardian)**. 

Blackout snapped his attention back to the boy at the mention of his former guardian. He was surprised to see the boy still on his back, staring up at him with awed horror. He thought humans were supposed to be smarter than that? 

It wasn’t until Blackout reached down to grab the boy was when the human finally developed some senses and got up and ran. 

As Lafayette ran towards his squad, Figs mange’s to get a hold of an energy riffle and shot at the metal titans face. Causing it to stumble back and grab it’s face and letting out what seemed to be a yell of pain. While it was distracted, the team got away.

When Blackout recovered from the shot, he saw that the boy had disappeared into the desert with a group of humans. 

He let out a growl of frustration and called out to Scorponok through their bond.

:::Find the boy and return him alive.::: he ordered.

:::What about the other humans?::: the symbiote asked.

:::Kill them all.::: Blackout answered coldly.

Scorponok released a pulse of excitement and bloodlust through the bond at the thought of hunting humans before being ejected from the back of the titan.

The symbiote, a large but not as large as it’s counterpart metal scorpion with multiple red eyes, dug itself underneath the sand and began its persuit of the humans and leaving the titan to destroy the rest of the human base.

===

Lafayette was running as fast as his legs could carry him, but when your running for your life in the desert with a giant fucking robot shooting at you, some would find it extremely difficult. He could hear his blood rushing through his ears like violent river, it almost tuned out the screaming.

_Fire. Blood. Screaming. People running, trying to get out._

His throat was burning as he sucked in the dry air and exhaled. His bionetic eye showing blue pop up screens and a human model with some red spots on a certain areas to indicate injuries from his systems diagnosis.

**[Adrenaline up by 86%]**

**[Heart rate up by 50%]**

**[Minor wounds detected in both arm and leg. No major injuries detected. Seek help.]**

His heart felt like it was trying to break from its prison that was his rib cage and felt his bones rattle from each shockwave of explosions through the sand. He could hear Lennox and the others running and panting heavily on both sides but he wasn’t focused on them, only on the haven that was the Qatar desert.

He didn’t know how long he or the others were running but for some reason he stopped and turned around to see the on fire base.

The titan was simply walking while occasionally lifting its canon to destroy anything and everything in its sight. Each canon blast flared a blinding white that was soon followed by echoing screams.

_Fire. Blood. Screaming. The sound of bodies hitting the floor._

Lafayette simply Stood and watched in horrified awe as aircrafts, tanks, buildings, and people were blown away into nothing by the titan. He was so focused on the titan that his bionetic eyes collected whatever data it could from what he was seeing.

There was some kind of...field surrounding it. It was blind to ordinary eye, but Lafayette was anything but ordinary. His cybernetic eyes could see the way the field flicked and flared around the titan. It wasn’t a force field, he knew that much, so what the hell is it?

Lafayette was snapped out of his thoughts by a sharp tug of his collar that caused him to choke a yell of surprise.

”Lafayette come on!” Lennox shouted into his ear, running with the young private in tow.

Shaking the thoughts out his head, Lafayette ran along side Lennox and eventually caught up with the rest of the group.

Than he heard another explosion, this one closer then the others, and it was followed by a flash of blinding white and more screams. The shockwave sent him flying through the air and he landed a few feet away from Lennox and the others, who were also sent flying from the wave. His head hit the side of a rock and made his ears ring as he his vision began to blur, blue pop up screens flooding his vision.

_Fire. Blood. Screaming. He was laying in a pool of his own blood, his cybernetic arm sparking with dead wires and synthetic flesh peeling and melting away to reveal dead circuits and metal._

_Through the tall flames, he could make out a small figure in blue hiding underneath a table. Their legs were pulled close to their chest and their head was hiding in between their knees and their shoulders were falling up and down._

_He could hear her crying._

Lafayette reached out with his cybernetic arm towards her, the flashback mixing with reality was a cause of him hitting his head. He was being delirious, he knew this but still, somewhere deep down, he hoped she could hear him. 

”Angel...Help.” He croaked out.

Than his world went black. 


	2. A Red-Letter Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun shines brightly today, warming the earth and all her inhabitants. 
> 
> Not a single cloud to ruin the flawlessly crystalline blue sky.
> 
> No sign of the impending storm that could to ruin this day. 
> 
> A never ending, perfect day. 
> 
> And a girl made of liquid sunshine to brighten the world even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back beautiful readers!~ 
> 
> I am happy to say that this is the first official chapter of my series. 
> 
> No major warnings for this chapter. 
> 
> Now sit back, relax, and enjoy~

_Roaring flames towered above her. The ravenous flames were slowly devouring what was left of the massacre that had just taken place. All she could do was watch as the flames danced, taunting her with their tendrils as they tried lick her for a taste of her flesh, causing her to let out a hoarse cry and crawl further under her safe spot, a table cloaked in a heavy white fabric with the ends of it ash grey. They occasionally gained a taste before the flames slowly closed around her to devour her completely. The heat stung her eyes, blinding her. Her lungs were filled with smoke. The smell of burning flesh violated her nostrils._

_  
Past the smoke and the dancing flames, she could see bodies being eaten by the fire. Some were no more than ashes taking the silhouette of a person. The closest burning corpse, was a woman. Her gown had turned into charred rags. Her hair was replaced by a crown of flames. Her eyes were empty sockets, never to sparkle with emotion ever again. Her face was a grimace of fear and pain._

_Pulling her knees to her chest, she cried whatever tears were left._

_Out of the corner of her eye and through a wall of fire, A boy was reaching out for her. His hand’s synthetic flesh had blistered and burbled to reveal dead wires and metal. He was laying in a puddle of blood, his own perhaps. He was pathetically attempting to use his cybernetic hand to crawl towards her. His large hazel eyes held anguish and fear as he reached for her._

_“Angel…Help…please…Angel…Angel…”_

“Angelique! It’s just a dream! Wake up!”

Angel jolted out of bed, her heart threatening to burst from her rib cage and nearly sending Luna flying from her kicking legs. She began to cough, still feeling the smoke in her lungs. Her throat was so dry that it was painful. She had to pat herself up and down to reassure herself that the fire wasn’t real. The flames weren’t eating her alive.

She was safe.

After her coughing fit, she quickly reached for the glass of water on her night stand and chugged it down, almost choking in the process. When she had finished the last drop of water, she finally took a moment to collect herself. Throughout the whole ordeal, Luna was attempting to comfort her but she went unnoticed until now.

Angel watched as the sleek black cat with a white crescent moon shaped mark on her forehead made her way towards her “Angel? Angelique, dear, are you alright?” Luna asked, her voice heavy in concern.

Heavily breathing, Angelique swallowed her saliva. “Yes…I...I’m ok....The fire isn’t real…I’m not a torch.” She answered shakily.

Luna was a bit caught off guard but quickly put the pieces together as to what she’s talking about. 

  
“Was it _that_ dream again?” The feline asked in sympathy, though is obviously treading lightly as to upset her friend even more. It wasn’t the first time Angel had startled herself out of a nightmare. More often than not she thought she was still dreaming and reacted violently when herself or the other witches in the house tried to calm her down. She was just glad that she wasn’t kicked across the room this time.

  
Angel’s had heart finally slowed down and she ceased her deep breathing. Shakily, she put on a small but reassuring smile, she stroked her familiar’s ears. “Yes, it was that dream again, but I’m fine now.”

Luna gave her an analyzing look, trying to see any doubt behind Angel’s claim before giving into the gentle strokes and began to purr. Damn her magic fingers!

Angel was beginning to calm down while petting her familiar. She knew Luna hated being petted as according to her ‘she is a familiar not a common house cat dying for attention and cuddles’ but deeply appreciated that she would let her so she could relax.

She was finally relaxed when a voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.

“ _You alright there, Bitlet?”_ Trevor, one of the voices that existed in her head, asked. _“You scared me and the others when you woke up like that, everything okay over there?”_

Trevor, what he liked to call himself, was one of three voices that have been in her deluded mind for the past five years. He was her voice of reason and acted like a mother-hen when it came to taking care of herself. He wasn’t the most vocal of the bunch, that title rightfully belonged to someone else.

Angelique smirked some more.“Well, let’s see. Besides having voices inside my head and having hallucinations. Yeah, I’d say everything is pretty normal here in crazy town. _”_ she answered sassily, causing Luna to give her a look before understanding. 

“ _Your not crazy, pipsqueak.”_ A different voice, Sky, stated.

Aw, yes, there he was. Sky was the most talkative of the two, and the mischievous one. Sky often gave her ideas for pranks or provided interesting commentaries and always knew what to say to cheer her up.

“You keep telling me that and yet you guys are the proof that I am _.”_ She said, before realizing their forgetting someone. “Where’s grumpy Star? Can’t complete the crazy train without him _.”_ She halfheartedly joked.

She heard a familiar scoff, “ _Here Sadly. And I am not grumpy.”_

And last but least; Star. Star was the grouch with an ego that could rival Aphrodite’s and a temper that would give Ares a run for his money. Star was a pain but she knew he cared even when he said he didn’t.

Angel let out an amused chuckle, “Oh really? Then why do I always hear an edge in your voice?”

 _  
__“Because I am surround by idiots, girl, that’s why.”_ Star answered, earning an offended ‘hey!’ from Sky. 

Angelique let out a giggle.

It was crazy, not that it wasn’t already, how real they felt. She could recall a hand full of times were they calmed her down when something would trigger her and felt someone else’s presence close to her, warmth and safety wrapping around her like a warm blanket.

It was so ironic it made her laugh.

Something that would drive anyone else insane made her feel sane.

“Angelique your zoning off, you it’s not good for you.” Luna’s voice snapped her back to reality. Angel smiled down at Luna. “It’s okay, Luna, it’s just the voices asking if I’m fine.” She said in her usual whimsical voice, kicking her legs off the side of the bed and walked with a skip in her step to the glass french doors and opened them, allowing the cool morning breeze to sweep in.

Angel looked out at the beautiful country side that was owned by her Theía and breathed in the blooming flowers and fresh morning dew and caught a faint odor of the animals from the farm. The sun was beginning to rise, the sky turning into a ombré of orange and pink. This was her favorite part of the day. Watching the sun rise, symbolizing the beginning of a new day. One that would hopefully be better than the last.

Having her fill of the view, she went back inside and closed the doors behind her, the room a bit cold form the morning breeze. She quickly made her bed, fluffing her white comforter and pillows, folding the thick baby blue knitted blanket, all the while Luna watched from on top of the dresser.

Afterwords, she changed out of her cozy PJs to more comfortable and productive clothes that consisted of overall jeans and a simply T-shirt along with a pair of black nike shoes. Using her slender fingers to comb through her waist length, curly hair out of the braid and quickly braided a new one.

After getting dressed, she opened the door and walked into the hallway, Luna in tow.

The hallway floor was dark wood and walls painted white, decorated with family portraits and and paintings made by family members gifted with a paintbrush, like her cousin Peony. Angel walked down the hall, towards her young cousins bedroom and opened it. 

The walls were painted in a ombré of various shades of blue with schools of fishes in the coral reef painted down by the floor and white shelves were hung and cluttered with Peony’s swim team trophies and metals. Framed artworks and photos of beaches and sea creatures hung on the wall. Books of marine biology on the reclaimed wood bookshelf near the matching desk and dresser. Her various collection of colorful sea glass, corals, sea shells, gobi agates, sand dollars, hagstones, and jars of water from the ocean on one of the lower book shelves.   
  


Peony’s desk was stained with paint and littered with mason jars full of dirty or clean brushes and half-done or blank mini canvases.   
  


the dresser was placed by the door and held two tanks; one housing her two axolotls and the other with three white tree frogs that croaked silently. 

Peony’s back facing towards her and hiding her head underneath her white comforter. Angel could hear her cousins soft snoring from the doorway and walked with a slight skip in her step towards her sleeping form and began to gently shake her. “Peony…Peony~…its time to wake up~.”

Peony let out an annoyed moan and curled further into her sheets, Angel pursed her lips slightly at the younger girls stubbornness.

Than her plump lips curled into a mischievous smirk. She knew what would get her up. “If you get up I’ll make you pancakes~…” she said in a sing-song tone.

Bingo.

Peony’s eyes flashed open revealing ocean blue orbs, and without warning threw the covers off her and into the startled girls face, her long sea green ombré braids nearly slapping her in the face, and ran out of the room before grabbing her chores clothes from the dresser and booked it towards the bathroom, all while grinning in glee.

“Well, what are we waiting for?!” She said, not even bothering to calm her excitement as she raced towards the bathroom and closing it behind her a little too loudly that made Angel jump a little and fear of waking up the rest of the house.

Angel let out an amused chuckle and shook her head at her cousins antics before making her way towards Melissa room and opened the door. A strong scent of cinnamon and sandalwood filled her nostrils as she stepped into the chaotic bedroom. Melissa’s bedroom walls were covered with her impressive knife collection, artwork, and self-taken Polaroid photos that you could barely see the crimson walls. Fairy lights hanged above the bed, offering little light in the room. Her black dresser was cluttered with week old clothes next to her record player and high pilled books. Her desk also cluttered with school papers and books next to her datapad. A rack of her favorite jackets and other clothing were hanged, her favorite shoes underneath sat near the dresser near the corner of the room.

Melissa was laying on her stomach, her back towards Angel, with her right arm along with her black sheets hanging off the bed, her heavily ringed fingers gently gleaming in the light, and her raven black hair in a messy halo above her head. She wore a guns n’ roses band tee and leopard black laced trimmed panties. Melissa’s familiar, Sphinx, a beautiful dark orange Bengal cat with green eyes popped for underneath the covers and hurried out of the room while meowing a passing greeting.

  
Angel walked towards the her sleeping best friend and began to shake her. “Melissa…Melissa wake up…time for chores.” She said sweetly.

Melissa’s let out a groan and shifted further away from her best friend. Angel rolled her eyes before putting her hands on her hips and frowned playfully. “Alright then _petardo_ …I’m making pancakes for Peony and myself. If you get up I will make you Belgium waffles…How does that sound?” Angel appealed.

She watched as Melissa slowly turned to face her, her eyelids slowly fluttering to reveal vivid emerald green eyes. She watches as her stoic expression slowly turned into a grin. “See bitch, this is way I love you.” She teased before getting up and putting on a random pair of cargo pants that were lying around.

Angel smiled in triumph. “Love you too. Hurry up, please.” On her way out she nearly tripped on a pile of dirty clothes and hissed. “And please pick up your mess. I’m gonna trip and break my neck on one of your piles one day.”

“Then I’ll happily use necromancy to revive you but until then leave my ‘mess’ alone. I like it like this.” Melissa grumbled, slipping on a Nirvana band tee and throwing her messy hair into a ponytail and walked past Angel, who following behind her to the backyard. 

There was a reason why Azalea was called the ‘Green Witch of Eastwick’, one of them being her garden. 

The railings of the green porch, were ivy that stopped at the staircase railings that lead to the most beautiful garden you could ever hope to see. 

  
Divided sections of fat-headed, colorful flowers of every kind with hydrangea trees planted at each end of the sections.   
  


Tulips, sweat peas, roses, begonias, camellias, dahlias, chrysanthemums, narcissuses, hyacinths, lilies, peonies, and many more.   
  


Under the porch were shrubs of hydrangeas, lilacs, azaleas, weigelas, and bleeding hearts. 

  
Angel and Melissa walked through the pathway of the garden, wide arbors painted white that were intertwined with ivy. the small white pebbles crunching underneath their feet as they passed by the flower garden, the hot house, and fruit and vegetable garden.   
  


Outside the gardens and by the small barn used for storage and is Angel’s workshop, Peony was sitting on the back of the running four-wheeler. 

  
“Took you guys long enough. Let’s get this over with so we can have pancakes.” Peony said, practical bouncing at the thought of the sugary breakfast.

  
“Alrighty pipsqueak, slow your roll, there’s plenty of horse shit for you to shovel up when we get to the barn.” Melissa grumbled, swinging her leg over the four-wheelers front seat.

  
Angel smiled and shook her head as she positioned herself between the two and wrapped her arms around Melissa’s waist.   
  


Peony leaned back, blew a raspberry and grumbled, “You can take that shovel and shove it up your - Ahh!” 

  
Peony let out a short scream and quickly wrapped her arms around Angel when Melissa suddenly pressed on the gas, nearly sending her flying.   
  


Peony let out a string of curses, but they were barely audible due to the wind rushing past their ears and the loud engine.   
  


Angel and Melissa shared a mischievous look and laughed.   
  


===  
  


A few minutes later they arrived at the animal barn, a classically large and red and white structure that housed the animals.   
  


Angel used the keys to open the gargantuas doors and was greeted with the oinking of pigs, neighing of horses, mooing of cows, and baaing of sheep and goats.   
  


“Okay, Melissa and I are going to feed the animals in here and you are going out back to let out and feed the chickens, ducks, and peacocks. Ah! And don’t forget to get the chicken eggs.”  
  


Angel picked up a two bucket and opened a large trash pin full of food for the poultry, scooped up a a few full cups of seed in one and the two handed it to Peony. 

Peony rolled her eyes. “Oh, joy.”

She took the buckets and speed-walked to the coops in the back when Melissa decided to tease her adopted cousin. “Try not to run and drop the bucket like a little chicken shit when the roaster comes flocking towards ya’ like the last time, ok?”

Peony flipped her off, causing both girls to laugh.

They began to work. Starting by feeding the animals (Peony being chased by the roaster again, and the girls laughing their asses off), changing the water bowls, replacing the hay, checking the hooves, spraying them with insect repellent, and cleaning the stales with Melissa complaining nonstop about the stench.

  
Once they were down, they let the barn animals go free in the fields and the poultry birds to the orchards and vineyard to do their things. 

They hosed down their mud and animal fecal matter covered muck boots before getting back on the four-wheeler and riding back home, Peony holding the basket full of chicken eggs.

They went to the gardens and began picking ripe fruits and veggies and placing them into hand-woven baskets.

After doing their chores, they hosed their muck boots again before taking them off and going inside with baskets full of fruits, vegetables, and eggs in tow and setting it on counter. After placing them in the fridge, Angel gathered the ingredients to make breakfast.

Angel made chocolate chip pancakes for herself and Peony (her teachers are gonna _love_ her for bringing a sugar fueled Peony to school), Belgium waffles for Melissa, and regular pancakes for her aunt and uncle and grandmother.

Before they could sit and eat, they had to do the offering of portions.   
  


Angel placed a single piece of chocolate chip and regular pancake, Belgium waffle, and a couple of pieces of fruit and a two full cups of coffee and orange juice and made her way to the living room with Melissa and Peony following close behind her.

  
  
In the center living room, was a large, white hearth with a long haired woman in floor-length, flowing robes with the hood up and holding a staff sculpted into both sides the marble. 

The hearth was charmed to never go out, never to let an ember fall out, and the logs were never to burn into ashes. It was made to always burn.   
  


Angel and company carefully knelt in front of the hearth in a triangle pattern with Angel in front and respectfully knelt their heads down and silently prayed.   
  


“Great goddess, Hestia. Chief of the goddesses, keeper of the hearth, guardian of the home, and protector of families, we offer the first and richest portions of our meal to you and your royal hearth, so that it may burn for all eternity. Bless this home and bless this family, we honor you.”   
  


Angel then gently tossed the food followed by coffee and orange juice into the hearth, the fire flickering ever so slightly. The food sat on the flaming logs for a second, never burning, before disappearing.   
  


The girls went back into the kitchen and sat down at the dining table and began to eat, Luna and Syphinx eating next to their charges. 

Angel was sipping coffee from her pink octopus mug when footsteps come down the stairs, unsurprised to see her Theía, Azalea, was up before her Theío Adonis and Ya-ya Theia.

Her Theía, Peony’s mom, was a tall and beautiful woman that looked to be in her twenties with hickory colored skin and dark hair with piercing hazel eyes. She was wearing a pair of blue faded jeans with a belt holster that held her twin sickles at her hip with a simple cream colored button up shirt that revealed a dark green jade and wooden beaded necklace that had the symbol of Demeter, jade and wooden bangles clanked together at her wrists, and topped it off with a pair of brown lace up boots. 

Azalea wore a smile that always sparked a sense of familiarity in Angel.

“Morning girls.” She greeted, to which the girls said good morning back to the woman. Her hawk-like eyes landed onto the sugary confections that served as the breakfast and gave a distasteful look at the plates before tossing a look at Angel.

“Really, Angelique?” She asked unamused while mentally preparing herself for the endless phone calls from teachers complaining about Peony quit literally bouncing off the walls.

Angel winced at her Theía’s usage of her full name and put her arms up in defense. “Sorry, it was the only way I could get them out of bed.” She defended. “I left you some pancakes on the stove.” 

Azalea let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes. “Thanks, dear” she said as she walked towards the plate of pancakes on the stove and looked at the clock and saw that it was almost the time that Angels friends, Al and Gwen, would come and pick them up and drive them to school.

“Your friends are gonna be here soon, girls, hurry up and get ready. Oh! And Angel, do you know what day it is today?” Theía Azalea teased with a smirk.

Angel smiled wide, showing off her pearly white teeth, and let out a giddy laugh while shooting up from her seat and twirled. She wasn’t sure if sudden enthusiasm was from the pancakes or from her own genuine excitement, but she didn’t care.

“I get my first car today! Finally after two years! I’m so excited!” She exclaimed, making her theía smile fondly and her coven sisters roll their eyes playfully at Angels display.

After Angels little moment of joy, Azalea shooed the girls out of the kitchen and ordered them to get ready for school. They raced to the bathroom to be the first to take a shower and Melissa ended victorious when she slammed the door that almost hit Angel in the nose.

The usually enforced five minute shower rule turned into seven minutes too long when Peony decided it was a good idea to practice her magick to try and turn the water ice cold, which proved successful when a surprised shriek followed by yelling came from the bathroom and soon an angry Melissa came storming out of bathroom in a short towel and stomped into her bedroom while cursing up a storm and flipping off a smug Peony who went to take her shower.

  
After Peony was finished, Angel took a nice, hot, shower and washed herself with her handmade lemon and orange body bar soap and did the normal morning ritual of brushing her teeth and hair and washing her face.

Entering her room she went to her closet to choose an outfit. She scanned the rack of clothes for a moment before pulling out a matching set.

Both the skirt and the jacket were azure blue and made of a shiny material. The skirt stopped just below her thighs and had two small slits in the front on both sides. She pulled out a pair of black, breathable tights and put them on before sliding in the skirt.

Next she put on a simple black tank top before throwing on Lafayette’s brown leather jacket, the sleeves stopping a Jew inches below her wrists. She put on a pair thick heeled black boots.

_Outfit: Check._

Angel walked over to her dresser and opened her wooden jewelry box. Inside opened it to reveal many beautiful and priceless necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. But the truly most priceless in there was her Ya-Ya Arete’s cowl.

She gently grabbed and caressed the soft cobalt material and wrapping it around her neck. Next, She choose a black leather wrist band that had a metal plaque that had three glyphs that she didn’t recognize but chalked it up to be one of the many ancient languages and put it on her right wrist and covered it with the too long jacket sleeve.

_Accessories: Check._

Angel grabbed her messenger bag and went downstairs, shouting a goodbye but before she could leave her Theía rang out from the kitchen.

“Angel, can you come here for a minute?” She called out from the conservatory pass the kitchen

Angel turned with a smile on her face and walked towards her aunt, her boots clunking against the hardwood floor. She saw her Theío and Ya-ya talking and eating breakfast.

”Good morning.” Angel greeted with a bright smile.   
  
  


Theío Adonis and Ya-ya Theia turned and greeted her with matching smiles. 

“Good morning, Angel.” Theío Adonis greeted. 

“Hello, my dear.” Ya-ya Theia acknowledged. 

Her Ya-ya, despite the her title, was anything but old.   
  


She looked to be in her early forties, without a single wrinkle on her fair face, an extra weight of droopy flesh, and a gray strand in her literal golden hair. Her turquoise eyes that matched Angels (the mark of a true born Delios), shined brightly with love and adoration. 

  
she wore a long sunset orange silk kaftan sleeping gown and her hair was up in a bun, a few golden strands framing her face.

Her Theío Adonis, Melissa’s adopted father, also had blonde hair, like honey in the sunlight and his eyes were obsidian black. His skin was bronze colored that brought out his gold rings and bracelets that adorned his fingers and wrists. He, like Theía Azalea, also looks to be in his twenties. He wore a pair of black jeans and white button up shirt and black dress shoes. 

Her smile slightly dropped and felt a pang of sadness when she saw the two empty chairs at the far end of the table.

“Angel!” Theía called out from the conservatory, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She quickly made her way to the glass conservatory and saw her aunt sitting on one of the lush sofas and going through the piles of letters from different universities on the coffee table, some in different countries, and immediately knew exactly where this was going.

“ Harvard…Yale…MIT…Princeton…Cambridge…Honestly, child, the list goes on and on. There isn’t single college out there that doesn’t want you.” Azalea flattered, a crease between as she continued going through the envelopes and turned to face Angel. “You really need to start thinking of what university you want to go.”

  
“I know.” Angel admitted with a sigh as she sat down on a near couch and put her bag near her feet. “I’ve just been so busy with other things I haven’t gotten to sending any applications. But, theía, I at least want a somewhat normal life. I don’t wanna be those kids that skip school because their so smart. I wanna go to prom and just be any other normal teenager.”

Aunt Azalea looked up from the letters towards her niece, the crease between her eyebrows gone. “ _Angel_.” She said in a rare soft voice.

_“Oh boy, here we go.”_ Sky groaned at the up coming speech, the one Angel has been given countless times. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Angel watched as her aunt up from the couch towards her, all while still wearing her soft expression, her usually stern hazel eyes glimmering with pride and love. The way her aunt smiled and her eyes glimmered sparked a sense of familiarity within her that also made her eyes prickle and throat tighten at the fact that she’ll never truly remember that sweet smile and those kind eyes.

Azalea gently placed her strong hands on Angel’s and slightly bent down to her eye level, wearing a soft but stern face.

“Angelique Delios, listen to me closely. You are the most beautiful, loving, caring, and smartest person I have ever met in my entire life. I know that your stressing over things _outside_ of school, but for _right_ now, just focus on getting out of high school alive.” She joked at the end, something she usually never did, but it got a laugh from Angel and a small smile formed on Azalea before disappearing

A lot of things stress her out, but high school was nothing compared to the other things she has to deal with on a regular basis.

After their little heartfelt moment, Azalea stared down at her niece with a thoughtful look and brushed her loose strand back, getting a good look at her face.

Angel watched as a small, sad smile curved on her Theía’s lips, a sudden small wave of sadness rolled off of her.

“You look so much like her, you know.” Azalea aid steadily, not allowing her voice to betray her of the sadness she felt and no doubt her niece was beginning to pick up on it.

You can never hide what you _truly_ felt to an empath. 

Azalea laced a hand on her anipsiá’s cheek, Angel smiled and cupped her hand over hers. “She would be so proud of you, seeing the beautiful and intelligent young woman you have become.” Azalea told warmly.

Angel gave a tight smile to stop them from trembling began to tremble and her eyes began to sting, tears threatening to emerge.

**  
Honk! Honk!**

  
The two women jumped out of their skins at the sudden honking, ruining the intimate moment.

Azalea quickly composed herself and straightened up. “Their waiting for you. Now hurry up and get to school. I’ll pick you in the girls up after school to go get your car.” She said in her usual iron tone, all past vulnerability now gone.

Angel quickly blinked the stinginess out of her eyes and hopped off of the stool and picked up her bag. “Got it, thanks Theía.” She said and quickly went to make her leave.

“Oh! And Angel, don’t forget this.” Azalea called out from behind her.

Angel turned to see her Theía holding a small, worn out brown leather pouch out to her.

Angel stared at the pouch, with a slight slack jaw.

“Is that?...”

“Yep, it’s Arete’s. All the things she used during her explorations. I need you to be carefully with these because Theia wants to put them in the archives when your done with them.”

Angel blinked and swallowed before gently grabbing the pouch and placing it in her bag. “Of course.”

She turned to finally leave and threw a wave at her Theía. “Bye! Love you.”

“Goodbye, Angel.”

Angel hugged goodbye to her Theío and Ya-ya, and kissed Luna goodbye before running out the door.

Angel booked it down the dew soaked porch and hurried to Al’s classic black Chevy impala and jumped into the backseat next to Melissa with Peony sitting to the right of her. Al was in the drivers seat while Gwen accompanied him in the passenger side.

“Good Morning, Princess.” Al greeted. Angel could see him flash her a sharp-toothed smirk in the mirror. Angel returned the smile. “Morning sexy.” She greeted, looking at Gwen before turning to Alphonse. “You too, Al.”

The corner of Gwen’s lips curled into a amused grin ever so slightly while Alphonse simply rolled his eyes.

Alphonse, or rather Al, is the second eldest of the bunch, with Lafayette being the eldest, and had long platinum blonde hair, a sharp jawline, a strong nose, ivory skin, with stormy gray eyes that seemed to make his face fade out.

He was wearing a pair of dark washed jeans with a simple black button down shirt with a black leather jacket over it. On both his wrists wear multiple silver bracelets with silver rings on each finger with his sharp nails painted in black nail polish.

Guinevere, AKA Gwen, looked somewhat similar to Al in comparing the pale hair, skin, and eyes. Gwen had silverish white hair that held soft curls and was deathly pale in contrast to Al’s healthy skin. She also had icy blue eyes that could see right through you. On top of that, Gwen had blood red lips.

She wore pale blue dress shorts with a large matching square belt and matching loose blazer with a thin white sweater tucked into the shorts and a pair of white heels.

“About time you got here. I was about to go in there and drag you out. Gremlin here has a firecracker up her ass and I don’t wanna be anywhere near when she blows.” Melissa grumbled, which made said ‘gremlin’ snap her head to the older girl and throw her a glare.

“Oh, shut up! Keep calling me gremlin I’m gonna turn you into a toad.” She talked so fast that almost no one caught what she said, but the teens laughed anyway.

Melissa was wearing a vintage outfit that she guessed was from the early to mid-2000s. She She wore a faded gray shirt that had ‘La Luna’ above a black sun and moon that was encircled with the zodiac with her signature black leather jacket over it. A pair of black sheer tights were worn underneath the ripped denim shorts with black buckled combat boots. She was wearing her usual charm rings, not a single finger was without a ring and her black hair was styled messy and wearing red lipstick and her black lip piercing and black nose and septum ring.

Peony’s peered her head around Melissa and frowned at her cousin. “Yeah, What took you so long?” She asked. Peony wore a black dress with green patterns on it with a short green trench coat type jacket over it with a pair of black tights and white tennis shoes with green padding and Velcro straps. Her long sea green braids were left loose.

Angel smiled and simply responded with. “We were just talking about College.”

  
She then said with a teasing smirk. “Your guy’s hair look like a rats nest.” And ruffled Peony’s hair, who swatted her hand away and remarked “Bite me, princess.” Making everyone in the car laugh.

“Say, Angel. You get your car today, right?” Gwen asked casually.

“Yeah, Azalea is taking after school.” Angel answered.

“So that means no carpooling with us? I’m hurt Angel, after all these years.” Al sarcastically whined.

Angel let out a laugh. “We can still ride together, I’m just getting one to get around besides riding my bike.”

Gwen smirked. “Wanna take it to the Hang Out tonight?”

Angel pursed her lips in thought. “I have work until 6 and I’ll have to ask Azalea but yeah I would like.”

Gwen let out a ‘hmm’ and the Car was filled with a comfortable silence.

The ride to school went by quickly along with the day and after quick goodbyes went to their first classes.

The day went by rather uneventfully. At Lunch the gang got together in the courtyard. Al threatened to feed Melissa to his younger terror siblings when she stole his sub. Peony tried to impersonate her Algebra teacher, Mrs. Higgins, with an over the top crackling voice and exaggerated strict face that made the older kids laugh hysterically. Angel shared her homemade chocolate chip cookies with the others, which they ate with gusto. No one says no to Angel’s baked goods.

The rest of the day passed and it was now seventh period, Humanities, which Angel had with Melissa.

Angel stared blankly at the boy presenting, sharing how his family immigrated from Ireland to here in Eastwick.

Pretty much all the students stories were the same. Their ancestors came to Eastwick right when it was first established as a town and pretty much never left. People usually never left Eastwick, but sometimes Eastwick would warmly welcome any one who wanted to make the town home.

Eastwick was a safe haven for all magical beings after all.

Angel bounced her leg up and down at a steady pace, nervously anticipating the teacher to call her and Melissa up to present.

Dissipate her being what Mellisa called a ‘social butterfly’, she despised being in front of a crowd.

To have so many eyes on you, to feel so many different emotions rolling off of multiple peoples made Angle uneasy.

What if she made a mistake? What if she focused to hard on her breathing and fainted? What if she had hallucination during the presentation?   
  


it would all be so much easier if she could wear a veil.

She clutched the small leather pouch in her lap tightly and bit her bottom lip as she looked out the window.

She felt a hand gently placed itself on her bouncing leg, forcing her to stop the tapping.

She looked to Melissa giving her a small reassuring smile and said. “It’s okay. You’ll be okay.”

Just as the words left her lips, the students politely clapped and the teacher, Mr. Milkovich, called out. “Alright, Angel and Melissa, you two are up next.”

Angel bit the inside of her cheek before looking at Melissa, who was getting up, and slowly followed her to the podium with the small pouch in hand and the feeling of eyes following her all the way to the front of the class.

Angel nervously tucked her hair behind her ear as she got Arete’s items out of the pouch and delicately placed them on the podium.

She then looked up the crowd of eyes, her heart racing and her chest ached. She gave Melissa one more nervous glance before taking a deep breath and smiled.

“For our genealogy report we decided to do it on my great-great grandmother, Captain Arete Delios, who was know as the first woman to become an explorer in the 1800s and became the first person to explore the Artic circle.”

She saw Melissa unfolded and hold up a old parchment map of the Artic circle to the class.

Angel continued, “But before all that, Arete was born in 1858 to her mother Artemisia Delios, her father was unknown, in Greece. Arete was born into a family of elites in Greece but had no interests of becoming a ‘lady’ in the high society. She had a love for exploration and adventure and was, what people considered, a genius ahead of her time.”

Angel sucked in some air. “Arete began forming a crew for her exploration at nineteen-years old and began her adventure of sailing the world. During these travels, she was seen as a humanitarian, helping slaves escape and educating the poor.”

“In her life, she had three children between the ages of 23-26; two daughters and a son. The father or fathers of her children were unknown. However, motherhood didn’t stop her from her adventures. It is reported that all three of her children were born and raised in her ship, the ‘ _The Atlas_ ’, and was raised with the same high education as their mother.”

Angel nervously swallowed and tugged at the suddenly tight cowl.

“When her children reached their teens, they went to Greece to be with Arete’s family. Shortly after her children went to Greece, Arete decided to conquer a challenge that no one has ever attempted: to reach the Artic circle.”

“At thirty-nine-years-old, Arete traveled to the Artic circle with her crew. A journey that almost a year.”

Angel licked her lips. “However, during the voyage, Arete’s mental state began to…deteriorate. The crew gave reports that she would murmer to herself and talk about a ‘giant iceman’ and that ‘a war between metal and metal would soon become a war between metal and flesh’.”

“When the crew landed in America, Arete was taken by Louisiana authorities and placed into a mental institution where she would stay for ten years before her family found out about her imprisonment and had her sent back to Greece.”

Angel tried to continue but found herself unable to, her throat closing itself and could feel her eyes prickle.

Melissa saw her struggle and spoke up, drawing the attention of the class to herself. “Arete lived with her family until she died at the age of ninety-eight in 1956.”

Melissa picked Arete’s circled shaped spectacles and showed them to the class. The lenses cracked with frost like fragments on them.

“These were her glasses that she wore.” She said.

The class clapped after the she was done showing Arete’s things, and as the Melissa and Angel began to pack up the Arete’s things, they heard a male voice let out an single dry, amused laugh followed by “A nutcase in the Delios family, that’s not surprising.”

Melissa snapped her head to the direction of the voice, her green eyes ablaze and a snarl curled on her red lips.

Her classmates also followed the direction of the voice, some giving the owner of the voice a look of annoyance and distaste.

The voice came from none other then Eric Starch: Eastwick’s certified bad apple.

Unlike most of the kids in Eastwick, Eric Starch moved into town with his dad when he was fourteen. His dad was Tomas Starch, a businessman who was hoping to buy some land in Eastwick to make a flip for his company but found himself unsuccessful due to the residents of Eastwick having respect for land they inhabited.

To say Eric Starch didn’t make a good first impression on the residents was an understatement. Angel compared him to Gaston from Beauty and the Beast but Melissa compared him to a sociopathic, narcissistic steaming pile of shit. You could take one look at Eric and just know he was a piece of wasted human life.

He had slicked back black hair and blue eyes, with proud features and wore expensive tailed clothes. Eric walked like he owned town, looked down on the locals and was suspected of vandalism and arson of the businesses and monuments and even theft and animal abuse.

There was also a disturbing rumor that he runs a blog dedicated to all the girls in Eastwick, rating them on their looks and guessing how good they are in bed like some sort of incel or manosphere website.

He also had a habit of being a creep and harassing the local girls. He had a particular ’liking’ to Angel. Ever since freshman year, Eric would attempt to ask Angel out or flirt (AKA harass).

One instance that is well known throughout town and that everyone laughs about is when in freshman year, when Angel started working at Baba Yaga’s as a seamstress, Eric came in and started being a creep with Baba Yaga hearing all the repulsive stuff he was saying from the back room and came out and threw a broom at him. When Eric made a scene, Baba Yaga swatted him out of the store with the same broom and banned him.

Eric learned not to mess with Baba Yaga, however, he still didn’t learn his lesson about being an arrogant creep.

“Wanna repeat what you just said? You fucking failed abortion.” Melissa growled, but was cut off by Mr. Milkovich.

“Alright enough!”

He than turned to Eric with a frown, who was sitting back with his usual smug smile that you just wished you could punch off of him.

“Mr. Starch, I have told you multiple times that we do not tolerate disrespect here. Get out of my class and go to the principal.”

Eric shrugged his shoulders. “Fine, I don’t give a shit.”

He grabbed his bag while passing Melissa and Angel, he blew them a kiss before walking out.

===

In the hallway, Eric pulled out his phone and looked at the photo he secretly took.

It was of Melissa holding the glasses, unaware of the picture being taken.

Eric smirked and and logged in to his blog; _The Bitches of Eastwick._

He began to type an entry with the photos attached.

_Entry #1276_

_About: Melissa the #1 bitch and Angel the weird bitch with big tits._

_Melissa and her sister gave a presentation about their family. Turns out their great -whatever the fuck-grandma was a nutcase and got locked in an insane asylum, talking about some ‘giant iceman’ and aliens. No big surprise there, her and her sister are fucking nuts. Their pretty hot though, would totally fuck them both._

_And it’s not just them, everyone in this shit-stain town are a bunch of hippie fuck weirdos._

_Signed, LadiesMan217._

===

The bell rang finally, signaling the end of the day and the students began to pack and Mr. Milkovich gestured the girls to come over to his desk.

“I’m sorry about that girls, it won’t happen again. As for your presentation, you two have down well.”

He wrote an ‘A+’ with red ink on their paper before handing it back with a smile.

“Enjoy your spring break.” He said.

Angel smiled wide. “Thank you, you too Mr.Milkavich.”

The girls all but raced out of the classroom, dodging all of the other students and slammed the doors open and ran towards Azalea cars and could see Peony in the front seat.

Angel nearly ripped the door off its hinges, scaring Azalea and Peony, and slid inside. She all but shoved the paper with the bright red ‘A+’ in her theía’s face.

“Got an A! Time to get the car!” Angel exclaimed while Melissa climbed into the seat next to her and chased the door.

With an amused smile, Azalea shifted the car into drive and headed towards the car dealership. “Alright, Angel, let’s get your first car.”

XX

Angel’s teal eyes were wide with disbelief, her eyelashes fluttering with each rapid blink as she stared at the used car dealership in a town that was outside of Eastwick and that could be mistaken to be abandoned if it wasn’t for the sounds of mechanics working in a nearby garage in the dealership. She was expecting a tumble weed to come out of nowhere from how empty this place was. Her theía and her coven sisters were trying their hardest not to laugh.

Angel finally spoke. “Theía, you love me right?” She asked, completely deadpan.

“Of course, Angel, why wouldn’t I?”

“Because for the past four years of me living with you, I have gotten nothing but straight A’s- No! On the contrary, I have gotten nothing but straight A’s since I was in preschool- I work part time at Baba Yaga’s to get the money for the car, I help with orchard, _and_ I made a special potion to help your plants grow faster and healthier. If anything I’m tempted to call CPS for cruel and unusual punishment.” Angel ranted, which made the women laugh and Angel’s face burned with embarrassment.

Once Azalea had her fill of amusement, she said to Angel. “Angel when I was your age I was happy with anything that had four wheels and an engine.”

“Sure you were, but-but look at this-“ Angel motioned her arms towards the rows of old, beat up cars and pointed them out one by one. “These are all pretty much from the early to mid 2000s, hell, some are even from the 1980s and 90s. That one is a 40-year-old virgin, that one is a 50-year-old virgin, and that one screams ‘I am going to die a virgin’.”

“Well, at least I know what car I’m getting know.”

“Theía!”

Meanwhile, Melissa and Peony were having a blast, cackling like hyenas at the scene in front of them which caught the attention of the owner of the dealership.

A middle aged, African American man walked towards the group of women and greeted himself. “Ladies, Bobby Bolivia. Like the country except without the runs.” He laughed at his own joked. “How can I help you?”

Azalea smiled politely at the man. “Well, my niece is here to get her first car.” She informed, placing a hand on Angel’s shoulder.

Mr. Bolivia put a hand on his chest with a confused look. “You come to see me?”

“Had too.” Angel mumbled under her breath earning a half hearted slap on back of the neck from Azalea.

“That practically makes us family.” Mr. Bolivia claimed with a smile. “Uncle Bobby B. baby, uncle Bobby B.”

Angel, lighting up to the mans genuine friendly aura, smiled and held her hand out to shake, which he expected. “Angel.”

“Angel. Let me talk to ya.” The man said, leading Angel around the lot with a gently hand on her shoulder. He then began talk about drivers don’t pick the car, but that cars pick the driver and went to greet his ‘mammy’ only to get flipped off.

The brainiac was only half listening while scanning the lot for a decent car until her eyes caught one: yellow 1977 Chevrolet Camaro. Angel squealed at the sight of her childhood car.

“Aunty look! It’s just like the toy model one I had as a kid.” Angel practically ran to the car and examining its exterior before hoping inside. She could here Bobby B. complain about not seeing the car before to one of his workers and Melissa and Peony examining the car, but was too focused on the car to pay any actual attention.

The leather cushions were so soft and comfortable and the seat felt like it was made specifically for her. She immediately got a welcoming aura from the vehicle that called to her and made her want it even more. She leaned back against the seat and traced the the stitching on the steering wheel, smiling and letting out a small laugh at the angry cartoon bumblebee that said ‘BEE-OTCH’ with a mini disco ball.

“Feels good.” Angel noted. She raised a questionable brow as she traced the strange symbol at the center of the steering wheel.

Meanwhile, Azalea was talking business with Bobby B. and finally asked the big question. “How much for the camaro?” She asked.

Bobby B. Was next to the camaro, examining it. “Well…Considering the classic of the vehicle with the slick wheels and custom paint job-“

“But the paints faded.” Angel cut him off from inside the car.

The man bended down to the window. “Yeah but it’s custom.” He said.

Angel’s eyes went big. “It’s custom faded?” She said in disbelief.

“It’s your first car I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” He stated, making Angel pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. Yeah, because the daughter of the tech genius of the century doesn’t know anything relating to mechanics.

“Five grand?” Bobby B. offered.

Azalea shook her head. “No I’m not paying over four.”

Angel was god-smacked. She has over ten grand to pay for the car herself, her aunt was just being cheap again.

Then Bobby B. bent over to the window. “Girl, come on get out of the car.” He said.

Angel protested. “No, no, you said cars pick their drivers.” She refused to be separated from her true love. Damn her aunt for being cheap sometimes!

“Yeah, well, sometimes the car picks the driver with a cheapass aunty. Out the car.” He patted the car loudly.

Angel suddenly sensed a wave protectiveness and agitation curl around like a heavy blanket. It seemed to eminent from the car.

She ignored it, thinking’s it’s her mind playing it’s usual cruel jokes on her and reluctantly got out and begrudgingly listened to Bobby B. as he got into the drivers seat of a yellow 1980s yellow buggie. When she closed the door, the camaro’s passenger door swung open, hitting the drivers side of the buggie and knocked it into a rack of containers and startling everybody.

“Oh by Hekate!-you alright?” Azalea asked.

“No,no, no. No worries.” Bobby B. Said, trying to reassure Azalea but it didn’t take Angel to use her empath ability to see that he was freaked out.

“I’ll get a sledgehammer and knock this right out.” Bobby B. Joked before calling over his friend. “Ay Many! Get your clown cousin and get some hammers and come bang this stuff out, baby.” He laughed.

Angel and Melissa shared a look that said ‘what the hell is happening right now?’ when Angel felt that wave of protectiveness and agitation get stronger.

Was she about to have another hallucination? Or was it one of the voices? 

Bobby B. Turned his attention back to them and pointed out to another car. “That ones my favorite, drove all the way from Alabamy.”

Than all the sudden, an earsplitting cacophony of sirens blasted into the air, shattering all of the cars windows and Bobby B. getting down on the ground and covering his head and Azalea ducking down with Peony in her arms to protect her from the flying glass shards and Melissa and Angel covering their ears.

When the sirens finally quieted down, Bobby B. got up, glass shards falling off of him, and looked around his lot in horror at sight of the destroyed cars.

Angel felt the fear rolling off of him when he whipped his head around to Azalea.  
  


He held up four fingers and squeaked out. “Four thousand!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> ~ Petardo: Spanish for ‘Firecracker’.  
> ~ Theía: Greek for ‘Aunt’.  
> ~ Theío: Greek for ‘Uncle’.  
> ~ Ya-Ya: Modern Greek for ‘Grandma’.  
> ~ Anipsiá: Greek for ‘Niece’.  
> ~ Also for visual, Azalea’s home and garden looks like Claude Monet’s house and garden.
> 
> I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. 
> 
> Make sure to leave a comment telling what you think. 
> 
> Thank you and have a wonderful day/night.


	3. I Love You, Even a Million Miles Away, Even If Death Claims You, I Will Always Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am a broken porcelain doll. 
> 
> My heart is shattered.
> 
> My soul is shattered.
> 
> My world and all I thought to be true has been shattered. 
> 
> Let the wind scatter the remaining pieces of my sanity. 
> 
> Let me cease to exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my beautiful readers! I have returned with another chapter. I’d like to give a big thanks to the people who left the kudos, it means a lot to me.
> 
> Sorry I’ve been away for awhile, life and the world in general has been one, loop of never ending bad news. 
> 
> My school has been canceled due to COVID-19 and I’m under self-quarantine, so it gives me some time to keep updating until I go back. 
> 
> As for this chapter warnings it includes:  
> ~ Reference for past sexual harassment   
> ~ underage drinking and drug use (nothing big, just weed)  
> ~ some fucked up thinking.  
> ~ a graphic panic attack/ emotional breakdown
> 
> Please enjoy and remember to stay safe.

_He was in the heart of hell itself, everything was burning and death was everywhere with the iron tang of blood still floated in the air. He tried not to looked at the charred bodies of his parents and the other guests, but at this point they were nothing but ashes. Roaring flames towered above him, slowly closing in on him to seal his fate. He could hear faint crying coming from the other side of the wall of flames._

_Lafayette was laying on his stomach, his real arm clutching his stomach to stop the bleeding from the gun wound while he used his cybernetic arm to try and crawl towards the fire to where the crying was coming from. His cybernetic arms synthetic flesh was blistered and the dead wires hanging out flicked white sparks. Shockwaves of pain from the gun wound hit every nerve in his body as he pathetically crawled towards the crying._

_Please let don’t let her be dead, please let her be alive…_

_When Lafayette was close enough to the walk of fire, he reached out through it with his cybernetic arm. The synthetic flesh burbled and more dead fires slipped through and sparked white sparks. Thank god he hadn’t had nerve reattachment surgery yet. He called out to the person crying, hoping that it was his best friend._

_The crying stopped, and through the flames and smoke he saw a familiar pair of beautiful teal eyes looking back at him. She reached out to him._

_“Laffy?...Lafayette..-“_

“Lafayette, wake the hell up!”

Lafayette’s eyes snapped open and immediately shot his hand up to his face to cover his eyes from the blinding white light. His head felt like he got bitch-slapped by a train. What the hell happened?

Than he remembered. The base got attacked by a giant…something and that he and his team got out.

But others didn’t.

He waited until his bionetic eyes adjusted and could make out Lennox’s form above him, a look of concern on his face. “Lafayette, are you ok?” Lennox asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Except for the fact I felt like a got pimp-slapped by a freakin’ train.” As soon as Lafayette sat up, his internal diagnostic netscreen pulled up.

**Scan analysis: Concussion due to trauma to from head. Minor damages to right cybernetic arm.**

**Advise: Contact doctor for concussion and damaged.**

Damage to his arm?

Lafayette looked down at cybernetic arm to see the ‘damage’. Parts of the synthetic flesh on his arm had been burnt off and he had a few holes with black around the edges, showing his wires and metal. Lafayette let out a heavy sigh. At least he didn’t loose the damn thing. He turned to face his team mates.

They looked like hell. All them covered in sweat and some blood that sand stock to with some having sun burns and cuts and bruises.

They all were staring at him, all with equal concern as Lennox: Epps spoke first, “you ok, kid?”, Lafayette just nodded. “Yeah I’m cool. On to more important things, have you tried getting in touch with the pentagon?”

Epps shook his head. “Radios are fried. We got no communication and we don’t know where we are.”

Lafayette frowned and began to search in his internal computer for their location and a way to contact the pentagon or any other military base.

His computer showed him a map of Qatar, they were currently in the outskirts of the dessert, at least 20 miles from their destroyed base. His map also showed the location of a small village that would take a day to get to. Given their lack of supplies there was a high probability that dehydration and exposure would kill them before they’d reach the village. But what other option do they have?

Lafayette closed down his internal computer but kept the map up near the right corner of his optic.

“Alright, my internal computer is showing me that there’s a village due north of here but it’ll take a day to get there. I’m going to try and make contact with the pentagon but I can’t hold any promises. We better get going.” Lafayette spoke with confidence.

They looked at him before turning to Lennox, who was looking at Lafayette with surprise and…pride? Before speaking. “Alright, let’s hit it.” And then the team began their _long_ walk to the village.

Lafayette couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched. He looked carefully through the sandy dunes and did a quick scan of the hot deserted wasteland and found nothing. The negative scanner did nothing to smother the feeling but had no choice to ignore it.

Keeping his scanner open, he soon followed the others.

_===_

Angel was humming mindlessly as she worked carefully and skillfully at the embroidery hoop, focusing intensely on every little detail of her latest work. the embroidery was of navy blue mountains with an ivory moon mixed palest blue and purple hanging from above, the black lack mirroring the mountains and the moon below with a multi-colored pink blossoming sakura tree framing the scene.

It was the start of the commission she received from Mrs.Akiyama a few days ago, who was wanting a mountain scene embroidered onto a black shawl. She didn't give many details, usually none of the customers who came to the shop did. Angel didn't mind, it allowed her imagination to take the lead when it came to sewing and the customers always left enthralled with her work. 

Even through her humming and overall mindless concentration, she could hear Baba Yaga making her way to Angel's side of the room, her woven lapti shoes scratching against the floor and her thick oaken cane creating harsh thunks whenever it meet the floor. 

Angel looked up to see Baba Yaga placing a steaming porcelain cup of rose tea with three strawberry tea cookies placed on the saucer on her working desk.

"here's your tea and cookies, you little rat. try not to choke on it." Baba Yaga grumbled, her Russian accent laced heavily with her voice, turning her back towards her with her own tea in hand. 

Angel, taking no offense in the crude term of endearment, smiled and let out an amused chuckle. 

"Thank you Baba, and don't worry I'll try not to choke. I wouldn't want you to get sad and lonely if I died." She teased and gentle curled her index finger around the delicate, swan-neck handle and lifted the cup to her lips and drank, savoring the still steaming subtle floral and slightly tangy, fruity tea. 

The steaming hot liquid would have burnt any one else, but fortunately for Angel, she never had to be afraid of being burnt and relished in the warmness that traveled down her throat and into her belly. 

Baba Yaga let out a haughty and throaty 'hpmn' as she made her way to the window near the door, where some herbs and flowers were left to dry for the past several days.

"Sad and lonely? Ha! I'd have silence and tranquility if I finally had you out of my hair, and full cookie and tea tins as well. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to take you as a student." Baba Yaga scoffed as she took a sip of black tea. 

Angel giggled and shook her head as she took another sip.

Baba Yaga, a tale of folklore to mortals and one of the oldest and strongest witches in Aradia, had been her mentor for the last two years. She had first met Baba Yaga a few moths after she and Lafayette had moved to Eastwick to live with her aunt.

When she and Lafayette had arrived at Eastwick, uncle Adonis had told her of Baba Yaga, the ancient foul-tempered witch that lived in the Siberian forests in her cottage that had chicken feet that allowed her to move from place to place, her flying in her giant cauldron beneath the moon, and having a fence made of the bones of mortals, angels, demons, and even witches who were foolish enough to try and put an end to her. He told her that she lived deep within the neighboring forest and owned a shop in the center of town, as a way of peaking her curiosity and having her finally come out of her shell at the fact that one of the legendary witches of Aradia lived in town.

That knowledge only made Angel avoid the town even more, until one day when she couldn't and aunt Azalea and sent her out on an errand that sent her straight to Baba Yaga's shop. To say she was scared, would have been the greatest understatement of the century. 

She was _petrified_.

The mere idea of being in the same room with a living legend of Aradia made her heart plummet to her stomach and made her hands sweat and tremble. Their first meeting was admittedly less then ideal, but it was pressed into her memory, like a seal on wax, that would be with her for centuries to come. 

Angel recalled her aura, that ancient power making her freeze in place and nervously calling out to the empty shop with a shaky voice and hearing the scratching and heavy thunking against the floors coming from the back rooms, each harsh thud that came closer to the opening made Angel's heart race faster and _faster_.

She was a lot taller, as tall as you can be with a hunch, than she'd imagined she would be, and older too. Her hair was long, thin, and silver as steal that was set in a braid that flowed down her back. Wrinkles gorged heavily on her droopy face, a deep crease forever present in between her sheer brows, dark spots littered her sun darkened skin, her lips pressed into a tight line so her sharp teeth wouldn't show the veiny skin on her clawed hands were so thin it was as if the bones tried to pierce through, and her limbs so thin you would think they could snap at any moment. 

To any mortal, she might look like any old woman, but any _witch_ knew better.

Her aura gave away her strength.

Angel could feel her restrained magick, the seems of her will barely containing it.

She was shaking like a leaf and felt cold as ice when Baba Yaga entered the room and took note of the nervous young witch in her shop with a box of fresh herbs addressed to her.

"Ah," Baba Yaga had said, her voice piecing the tense silence. "So Azalea finally decided to have those herbs delivered, about time. You can set them over there."

Baba Yaga used her cane to point towards the wide counter where above were dozens of small, labeled drawers contained with herbs and other ingredients used for witchcraft.

Angel had stiffly nodded and walked towards the counter and gently placed the box on it before quickly turning to leave when Baba Yaga's voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Hold on, girl." she had called out, causing Angel to turn her body to face the elderly woman and lower her gaze to the floor. A pregnant silence fell upon them once again for several moments before she spoke again. 

"You are Solstice Gorgon's daughter, are you not?"

It was more of statement than a question, but Angel confirmed it with a grim nod.

Baba Yaga allowed herself the rarity of softening her face ever-so-slightly and lowered her head in the respectful manner of honoring the dead.

"I am sorry about your mother, she was a good woman and even greater witch. She was a close friend of mine. I wish her soul safe travels through the Underworld and pray you find solace in your mourning." She said gravely.

Angel vividly remembered feeling envy, but more importantly, that white hot rage that seized her and stopped her nervousness and had made her go stiff as a statue and made her eyes shoot up in a glare.

At that point, she had grown tired of people and their 'sympathies' and 'prayers to her and her mother', of them explaining their ties to her and how 'close they were'.

She was sick of them attempting to share their memories of her, things they could claim as their own and look back to whenever they think of her. 

Their memories of her mother were things she could _never_ have. 

No amount prayers, therapy, or magicks could ever give back her memories.

With curled fists and barely retrained ire, Angel replied. "You and everyone else." She swiftly left before Baba Yaga could say anything else. 

She avoided the shop like the plague, only coming into town to get to school and nothing else, until that incident with Eric Starch. 

She was walking home from school one rainy afternoon, when Eric Starch began to follow her, taunting and harassing her. When Starch tripped on a crack and landed into a puddle, Angel took that opportunity to run and hide in a shop. She still wasn't accustomed to the towns layout, so she had run down a random few streets and allies before bursting into a random shop, nearly breaking the bel that hung above the door.

She was dripping wet and was shivering from the cold, to focused on the hopes that she had lost Starch to have noticed she was in Baba Yaga's shop, the separated and unused right side. By the time she did notice whose shop she was in, Startch had swung open the door, soaked to the bone with a predatory grin on his face.

Angel was frozen in place, paralyzed from the sheer anger and disgusting lust radiating off of him. 

Starch grinned wider and and slowly and threatening walking towards her, calling her horrible names and making repulsive comments on her body, her then _twelve-year-old_ body.

One comment he made that she recalled was 'Even though your a freaky little girl, you have some nice tits and a cute ass.' 

Her eyes were watering and her throat tightened as she was backed into a corner, Starch pinning both his hands on both side of her head and leaned in so close to her face that she could feel his breath against her skin. He continued on with his comments and veiled-threats, how he wanted to come home with him and how he could make her into a woman. 

She didn't even know Baba Yaga was there until she saw something hit Starch in the head so hard it sent him tumbling to the floor and looked up to see the elderly woman with a wooden broom in hand and disgust and rage carved deeply onto her face. 

Angel was still frozen in the corner and could only observe as Baba Yaga began to hit Starch, groaning in pain and holding the bump growing on his head, with the broom again and kicked him in the back, ribs and stomach with a physcial strength that Angel was shocked the ancient woman processed. And all the while Baba Yaga was shouting and cursing at him in English, Russian, and Aradian, even though she must have known he couldn't understand Aradian. 

Starch was screaming at that point, and cursing as well, but Baba Yaga did not stop until she was satisfied with his 'lesson on what happens when you harass a girl in her presence'. when she was satisfied, she used that same shocking strength to grab him by the collar and drag him out of the shop ,kicking and screaming like a toddle throwing a tantrum, into the pouring ran and gave one final stomp on his crotch for good measure before marching back inside and locking the door just in time when Starch staggered up with one hand on his crotch and the other used to bang on the window and shout that Baba Yaga would be sorry for what she did. Baba Yaga only gave him a sinisterly dark look and bared her sharp canine teeth at him threatening, which finally got him to leave, limping away with his pride in shambles.

Both Angel and Baba Yaga were heaving and shivering at that point, one from anxiety and the other from cooling off anger. Angel could feel the pure anger and repulsion from Baba Yaga, her magicks barely being held back, even as she tried to control it. Moments passed before Baba Yaga turned and looked at Angel and took in her wet and trembling frame.

Baba Yaga had let out a heavy sigh and walked towards her. "Come," she said with an extended hand. "Lets get you dried and warmed up and I will call your aunt." 

With great hesitance, Angel took Baba Yaga's clawed, but surprisingly soft, wrinkled hand and followed her to the back room. There Baba Yaga gave Angel spare linen gown to change into as she put a kettle on for tea and set her clothes to dry.

After she had changed and had been lead in front of the furnace with tea and a slice of cake, they began to talk. Awkwardly at first, but gradually they became more comfortable with each other until her aunt had come to get her home.

And from there, their strange relationship grew and strengthened.

Everyday, Angel would come and visit Baba Yaga, even though she claimed she found her visits annoying, and watch Baba Yaga do her magick. She saw how she could turn herbs into draughts, create amulets and talismans, control the weather, conjure undead warriors from the ground, and so much more. 

Angel even went with her to her cottage in the forest and was taught the words to summon her home and watched in awe as a house with chicken feet emerged from the darkness and planted itself in front of them. 

It didn't even take three months for Baba Yaga to, according to her, begrudgingly take Angel on as a student and hire her as a seamstress to work on the attached right side of the shop.

Two years later, she still worked with Baba Yaga in the shop and was still learning from her.

Returning to the present, Angel placed one hand on her chest in dramatic offense while the other still held the cup with a sly smile on her lips. "Are you saying the _great_ Baba Yaga doesn't enjoy _my_ company." She teased.

"I am fairly certain that is what I just said, girl. It would appear you also inherited a snakes deafness just as much as you inherited its gluttonous appetite, perhaps I should call you little python instead of little rat." Baba Yaga deadpanned.

Angel continued to smile. "Perhaps, but that would mean that I would have to call you old honey badger. You have the temper and musk of one." She took three more gulps of tea, emptying the cup.

she could see Baba Yaga's gray eyebrow twitch in irritation but could also see her wrinkled mouth curl upwards before it disappeared and turned her pale blue gaze to her. 

"Well, it would appear you _have_ learned something from Hermes besides cards after all." Baba Yaga jabbed, but angel could feel and hear the small amount of pride coming from her.

Baba Yaga turned her gaze back to the window that looked out to the cobblestone street where angel's car was parked. She curled her lips in distaste.

'But it would also appear you didn't learn any of Hermes's bargaining tricks. Honestly child, out of all the vehicles you could have chosen. What were you thinking when you chose that rusted gasoline fueled fossil?" Baba Yaga asked out of rare genuine curiosity laced with repulsion.

Baba Yaga would have figured that Azalea, in all of her often irritating protectiveness, would have gotten Angelique a vehicle that didn't look like it would fall apart at any given moment, and she knew for a fact that money was never an issue for the Delios's, so why give her something that looked like something that belonged in a recycling depot?

"I wasn't," Angel answered while chewing on one of the strawberry tea cookies. "Theia was, and it was mostly her wallet doing the thinking. She said that since its my first car, I don't need something expensive."

Baba Yaga rolled her eyes. That explained it then.

"Besides," Angel continued as she finished chewing the last cookie. "It's the same model of the toy car I have, a collectors item. I was feeling nostalgic."

"Nostalgia is going to be the last thing on your mind when that thing breaks down on you in the middle of the road or when the maintenance bill comes in." Baba Yaga stated flatly.

Angel let out a throaty chuckle and spoke in a silvery tone, "You're starting to sound like Theia. Don't worry I got that part figure out, I'll put a spell on the car later today that would reverse all the problems that car has and keep it in perfect state."

Baba Yaga raised am eyebrow at her. "Really?" She asked ambivalently. 

She didn't doubt that Angel will, she always did plan ahead for anything and everything, no matter how big or small. 

Angel smirked and got up from her desk with the empty tea cup and saucer. "of course I will, can never be too safe. That's what you and Theia always lecture me about or have you forgotten that? you old lady." she teased as she walked towards the back of the shop where the kitchenette was and giggled at the expression Baba Yaga made. 

The crease between Baba Yaga's brows deepened and her lips twitched in irritation.

Perhaps, she thought, Angelique was spending a little _too_ much time with Hermes.

Suddenly, the door opened and the bell from above rang throughout the shop. 

"Hello?-Oh! Hello, Ms. Yaga." The woman, who Baba Yaga quickly realized as Sarah Lennox, a mortal customer who had come in with her young daughter a few times for measurements for a commission. Her daughter, Annabelle, was right behind her mother and skipped inside. 

"Hi Baba Yaga!" Annabelle greeted excitingly. "We're here to get our pretty dresses. Is Angie here?"

"She most certainly is." Angel said with abroad grin as she stepped out from back room.

Annabelle's missing teeth smile widen. "Angie!" she shrieked as she ran towards her and wrapped her short arms around her waist.

Angel smiled and returned the hug. "Hi Anna, are you excited to get your dress?" Angel asked. 

Annabelle titled her head up towards Angel. "Yes! I can't wait for daddy to see it." Annabelle said.

Angel laughed and looked up to see Sarah smiling at the wholesome sight and Baba Yaga raising an amused brow.

"Hi, Sarah. How have you been?" Angel asked as she took Annabelle's hand and lead her to her work area, which besides her work desk with a sewing machine that was set in front of large window, there was a long dresser filled with completed works and on top were racks of fabrics and materials for customers to see. 

"I've been good, thank you. How have you been."

"Oh, I've been so busy. Between working here and my aunts farm along with graduation coming up and college admissions, I can't catch a break." Angel admitted as she opened a top drawer and took out two items wrapped and white tissue paper with Sarah's and Annabelle's names on them and took out a large paper bag to put the items inside. 

Sarah smiled sympathetically, "I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure as graduation comes closer, everything will speed right along." 

Angel continued to smile and handed her the bag containing her commissions. "I hope so."

Sarah beckoned Annabelle over to her and gave Angel one more smile. "I really can't thank you enough for this, Angel." 

"it no worries," Angel said. "I know for a fact that Mr. Lennox will love them. I even put a little bit of my special magick into them." 

Sarah chuckled, thinking it as joke. "Well, I'm sure he'll love them no matter what." She said as she fished around in her purse and took out her wallet to pay Angel and handed her a total of a hundred-and-sixty-six dollars.

"Thanks again, Angel. Goodbye." Sarah said as she walked to the door.

"Bye Angie! Thank you!" Annabelle exclaimed with a dramatic wave and followed her mother.

Angel giggled "Goodbye."

The bell above the door ran again as the mother and daughter trio walked out.

When the mortals were gone, Baba Yaga spoke up. "Be careful of the mortals you do business with girl, I really don't want to have to remind of the consequences if the secret got out that you were a witch, that this _whole_ town is full of witches."

Angel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Everyone always gave her an earful about being careful and warning her to keep her distance from mortals and she was starting to get annoying.

She wasn't as naïve as people thought. Just because she's an empath doesn't mean she knows how to set boundaries.

Angel waved a hand through the air in dismissal, "It's fine. I'm always careful, and Sarah doesn't strike me as the type to be gullible enough to believe in witches."

"It takes just _one_ person." Baba Yaga hissed through her teeth and tightened her grip on her cane. "One _wrong_ person to hear the word 'witch' and come marching here to-"

"Baba," Angel cut her off gently. "I know, you don't have to _remind_ me of what could happen if the wrong ones heard about Eastwick, about _us_."

There was pregnant pause before Angel broke it. "My shift is over, I gotta' go home and work on some stuff." 

Angel quickly grabbed her bag hanging from her work desk and made her way to the door and looked back and smiled warmly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Baba. Goodbye." she said and opened the door and left.

Baba Yaga watched through the window as Angel entered her car and drove off.

She gently shook her head and turned to head towards the kitchenette to work on some spell draughts. 

"I swear to the gods, that girl is going to get herself killed one of these days."

_===_

Lafayette was trying to recall an instance where he had offended the gods badly enough for them to come up with the punishment of having him and his teammates travel through the Qatar desert while they had Helios the sun beam down on them and try to roast them to death.

He thought and couldn't come up with a single thing. Perhaps it was for their sick enjoyment to see them sluggishly make their way across the merciless desert in hopes of finding a village so they could contact help.

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, it didn't matter. what did matter was getting to the village before they started dropping like flies.

It was night now, and Lafayette stared up at Selene driving her silver chariot across the navy blue, starlight sky. Two hours ago, Lennox had given the team the okay to rest until dawn while they would take look-out shifts. Figgs had built a fire while everyone else was putting food and water bottles in piles and rationed them before finding a sand dune comfortable enough to lean against it while eating, drinking, put salve on their sunburns and blisters, and talking to get their minds off of their current conditions while others immediately fell asleep. 

By now, everyone was asleep while Lafayette and Lennox took watch. Lafayette, with is bionic eyes, could see beyond the dark horizons, so he was placed near the outline of the group to take watch. 

Every few minutes, Lafayette would scan the dark sand dunes before looking back up to the full, silver moon and had been repeating the cycle for the last hour.

Lafayette briefly contemplated praying to Hermes, to tell Angel that the base he was at was attacked and he and his team were alive.

But at the same moment the thought came to him, he pushed it out of his mind.

Hermes never came when you needed him most, only when he felt like it.

Lafayette fumbled with his jacket and undershirt to pull out the rose quartz beaded pentagram necklace, the beads reflecting white from the moonlight. 

He rubbed the beads and pentagram and pursed his lips.

Lafayette really hated being mortal, sometimes. Granted he came from a House that was gifted the title of 'guardians' and 'champions' from Aradia, hundreds of years ago, but still mortal none the less. 

His House and others like his, relied solely on magical weapons passed down to them from generations ago, Like House Belrose's Blood Rose sword. 

Lafayette pulled his lips sadly. He really missed that damn sword. 

"Kid, you're supposed to be on look out." Lennox said, startling Lafayette so bad that he jumped slightly and whipped around to see his caption glaring down at him with his arms crossed.

The classic disappointed dad pose.

"I-um-sorry Lennox," Lafayette stammered. "I'm sorry, captain. I was just thinking." 

Lennox didn't drop his disappointed dad pose, instead furrowing his eyebrows closer together.

"Thinking about what?" 

Lafayette briefly thought about lying, to tell Lennox that he was trying to get through to the Pentagon using his internal computer or making calculations on rations, but instead he told him something else. He didn't why he did, maybe it was because of the possibility that they all might not make to the village r maybe it was because he was tried of lying and telling half-truths.

So instead, he told the complete truth. 

"I was thinking about my family." He admitted, almost shamefully.

It was that, that made Lennox drop his frown. 

Lennox had never seen Lafayette be so open about his thoughts, he never really shared anything about his family and life back home, the other day when Epps snatched the photo of him and his friend from his pocket and been the first time that he had shared anything about his personal life. He got the feeling that his sudden openness had something to due with his recent death experience.

Lennox let his arms drop to his sides as he made his way towards Lafayette and sat next to him on the edge of the dune, sand sliding away beneath his weight. He rested his forearms on his knees and allowed himself to finally relax after a whole day of walking through the desert.

"I've been thinking of my family too. I haven't stopped thinking about my wife and daughter since we've started. I keep thinking that our last video chat would be the last time I'd ever see them. My daughter just started first grade and my wife's and I anniversary is in June, almost seventeen years together."

Lafayette listened Lennox talk about his family. His wife, Sarah, and he were high school sweethearts and married right out of high school. Their daughter, Annabelle, just turned six and according to Lennox, was the sweetest little firecracker you would ever meet, a trait she picked up from her mother. 

Lennox continued on. Sarah's favorite flowers were stargazer lilies and Annabelle's were tulips. Sarah's favorite color was yellow and Annabelle's was red. Sarah had been a nurse for thirteen years and wanted to become a doctor. Annabelle was adventurous and always told him about her adventures in the forest, frogs and worms in her pockets and flowers in her long blond hair and excitedly told him about the pixies and nymphs that live in the forest.

When Lennox was finished he let out a heavy and stressed sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. 

"I don't know what the hell I'm going to do, Lafayette. Ever since that... _thing_ attacked the base, I can't stop thinking that everyone thinks we're dead, that we probably _should_ be dead."

Lafayette furrowed his brows in sympathy. He had been thinking about the same thing too. Why had they lived when everyone else died?

That sent Lafayette back in time, to a December night. Where a time of celebration ended with death and trauma and where he and Angel were the only ones to get out alive. 

Lafayette shoved that memory into the abyss of his mind and returned his attention to Lennox.

He gently put his hand, his _real_ hand, on Lennox's shoulder and gave him a warm, comforting smile. 

"I know, I keep thinking about it too. I can't get the screaming out of my head. I keep asking myself 'why us?' and I can't come up with an answer. But there is no answer, only us. You can't use any logic or religion to explain why that stuff happens, you can only live. Now we can only get the the village and call for help and get home to our families." 

Weather Lennox took his words to heart or not, he didn't know, but Lafayette took Lennox's small smile as a yes and it in turned, comforted him.

"Thanks kid, I appreciate it." He said.

Lafayette gave a small smile and thought they would fall into a peaceful silence but thought wrong when Lennox continued.

"Hey", Lennox said. "You never told me about your family. What are they like, kid?"

A pregnant silence fell on them before Laffayette sighed and decided to tell him, mostly out of obligation than anything else.

Lafayette told Lennox a little bit of his personal life. His parents were both dead and were close friends of the family that took them in; The Delios. Azalea was his guardian and owned an orchards and vineyard that supplied the town they live in and told of her infamous temper and mother bear protectiveness. Adonis was his jovial adoptive uncle that could make a full room burst from laughter and owned a popular café/restaurant in town. Theia was his adoptive aunt with a gentle and sweet demanor who was out of town a lot due to travel. Peony was his adoptive sister and Azalea's bio-daughter and was very mischievous and was an amazing swimmer and painter. Melissa was Adonis's adopted daughter and his cousin and shared a nasty temper with Azalea and could verbal tear someone a new one.

Al was an old friend from high school and came from a large family and wanted to move to New York to become a musician. Gwen was also an old friend and came from a proud military family but wanted to become a doctor. 

Than there was Angel. Lafayette shamefully admitted that he may have spent a lot more time talking about Angel then anyone else. 

Lafayette talked about her favorite flower, the ranaculus, and how she wore the first bloom of the season in her hair for good luck. He and everyone jokingly referred to her as 'Disney Princess' due to her seemingly magical way with animals and beautiful singing. How her skillful she was with a whip. How her peaceful presence had a way of getting even complete strangers to open up to her. She wanted to become a enginner and inventor and desires to work for Spartan Industries.

Lennox listened on as Lafayette talked about her. If Lafayette wasn't so adamant about loving her as a sister, Lennox would have thought that he had a crush on her. 

When Lafayette was finished, Lennox was smiling. 

"She sounds like a real gem, you two sound really close. Your lucky to have someone like that in your life." Lennox said.

Lafayette wasn't sure if he was finally starting to hallucinate from the intense heat and dehydration or what, but he swore he felt his face heat up. 

"Yeah, I really am. We've...known each forever." He admitted. 

Another pause of silence between them until Lennox spoke up.

"You should get some sleep. I'll do look out for a while." 

Lafayette knew what an order sounded like and didn't even ask if he was sure and instead thanked him and got up and went to find a spot close the fire.

He finaly found on and curled up and used his arm as a pillow, listening to the gentle crackling of the fire and feelig the heat close to him.

Lafayette took deep meditative breaths, trying to control his pounding heart and tune out the screaming echoing deep within his mind.

It took an hour, but Lafayette finally fell asleep. 

_===_

 _  
_Finally, after an hour of none stop typing and calculations and pumping herself with a Red Bull and a small pint of ice cream, Angel allowed a satisfied sigh to escape her lips as she hit send on the email. Leaning back on the chair, a resounding crack reached her ears and she released a loud groan of pleasure.

After getting the strange car, Angel along with her aunt and sisters returned home until Angel left to work at Baba Yaga’s shop. Peony went to visit the nymphs in the forest, Melissa went to work on new spells in the attic, Ya-ya was probably making dinner and Theío Adonis was dragged out by Theía Azalea to help tend to her garden, which left to Angel tinkering with her new projects in her workshop. Speaking of new projects, she just sent this months new ideas to Mr. O’Hara.

She stared up in boredom at the workshops ceiling, pondering on what to do next when her attention fixed on the old camaro sitting innocently a few feet away from her.

She pursed her lips. Ever since she first saw the vehicle, she could _feel_ something radiant off of it, as if it was staring intently at her with nonexistent eyes. She could still feel that intense stare coming from the car.

She shook her head at the thought. Her madness was starting to get to her again. Best to focus your mind on something.

She leapt off her chair and walked to the closed old barn doors and opened them before going to the camaro and getting inside, starting the engine and slowly back out of the workshop to the gravel driveway and getting out and returning back into the workshop to gather supplies.

Car wash soap, a large sea sponge, an old bleach stained towel, wax, a portable vacuum, leather polish, and oil, all inside a large plastic bucket.

Might as well clean the car to clear your mind, Angel thought.

Using an outside sink to fill the bucket, she mixed the soap in until it was foaming and proceeded to wash the car in a firm abut caring pace. During the washing, she thought she could feel the car… _shiver_ at certain points, especially when she washed the hub caps.

After a nice and thorough washing, she quickly dried off the car and started the waxing process. She set a timer on her phone to go off when the wax should be done doing its thing and began focus of the other tasks. Angel grabbed the can of oil and opened all the doors, trunk and hood and oiled the old and creaky hatches. After this, she fluttered the trunk, doors, and hood to see if they would continue to squeak. To her satisfaction, they didn’t.

Angel then grabbed the portable vacuum and started to vacuum the dirty floors and crevasses of the car until not a single speck of dirt was left and began to polish the leather of the seats and dashboard. Than the timer on her phone went off, signaling her that the wax strips were ready to be removed. She got got out of the care and began to careful process of slowly removing the wax strips.

After carefully peeling off the last of the wax strips, she took a step back to admire her work. She car was practically sparkling in the sunlight thanks to the wax, and the clumps of dirt that were once attached to the hubs caps and stained the car were no where to be seen. It still needed a little tinkering but Angel was more than content with the cars currant state.

Angel let a proud smile curl her lips.

Her state of contentment was interrupted but the familiar shout of Melissa that nearly caused her to jump.

“Yo! Angel!”

Angel turned her head up to see Melissa leaning out of the attics stained glass circular window looking down on her.

Melissa fixes her eyes on the glimmering car that was once an eyesore was now anything but.

“Holy hell, you really fixed that thing up. Looks awesome.” She commented before directing her gaze back to Angel. “Anyway, Al called. He said that he finally managed to escape from his nuthouse and is picking Gwen and wants us to bring the new car to the Hideout. So get your cute little ass up here and get changed while I pack the cooler.” She said before disappearing back inside.

Angel’s lips curled into a joyful smile. Between school and their responsibilities as witches, they hadn’t been able to just hang out like regular teenagers until tonight.

Angel quickly packed everything up and ran inside to her room to get ready. She quickly changed out of her clothes and put on a white one-piece swimsuit and covered it with a white crochet dress and slid in some sandals and threw her long hair into a bun before packing a small bag of minor essentials before heading downstairs to meet Melissa.

When she walked out of the house, nearing knocking into the cooler on the porch, she could see Melissa talking to Azalea and went to join them.

Theía Azalea raised a brow at Angel and Melissa and put her right hand on her hip. “Where are you kids going?” She asked.

“We’re going to the hide out for a little while, just to blow some steam.” Melissa answered.

Azalea’s face hardened. “You can blow off some steam at home. I don’t want you two going out tonight.”

“Oh come on, Azalea, just for a little while please? Just for a few hours?” Melissa ‘begged’.

Azalea was unfazed. “No, final answer. I’m sorry girls, but you can’t go out tonight.”

Angel could feel her aunt’s emotional field harden and raised an eyebrow. She usually wasn’t so adamant about them staying home whenever they wanted to go out, so what was wrong?

“Oh, come on Lea, let the girls have some fun. They deserve it after the shit they’ve been through.”

Everyone turned their attention to Adonis. He was barefoot, just like Azalea, with brown slacks and a loose linen shirt that was left unbutton, his multiple golden earrings glimmered in the sunlight with his hair in a top knot.

Azalea sent him a glare. “Stop calling me ‘Lea, and they can ‘have fun’ here. Their not going out tonight.”

Angel casted over a glamour, her eyes became a little bit bigger and sparkled like the sun shining onto a pound to give the perfect puppy dog eyes, and spoke up. “Please, Theía~ can we please go out just for a few hours. We’ll be back at ten I promise. Please~” she begged, her bottom lip set in a pout.

Azalea stared with an unimpressed expression for a few moments before relenting. She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose, her wooden and jade bangles clanking.

“Alright, fine. You can go.”

As soon as the word escaped her lips, Angel dropped the glamour made puppy dog face and leg out a squeal andMellisa smiled widely and picked up the cooler effortlessly to put in the trunk of of the car.

Angel hugged her Theía. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love you so so much!”

Azalea looked down at her Anipsiá with wide eyes and almost released a gasp of surprise at her anaconda like strength but thankfully caught it. She could hear Adonis stifling a laugh and sent him a glare over her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes in fake annoyance as she turned her attention back to her anipsiá. “Yes, yes, I know girl. Now hurry up and get going, the clock is ticking.”

Angel released her Theía before making her way to the car.

“I want you home by ten O’clock!” Azalea yelled. 

“Got it!” Angel yelled back as she climbed in the drivers side.

“And please for the love of Hekate drive safely!” Azalea warned as the car started up, the exhaust pipe releasing a thick cloud of gray-ish black smoke and driving off the gravel drive way and to long path that lead to the main road

There was relative silence before Adonis deadpanned. “Wow…You are so cheap.”

Azalea whipped around and sent a nasty look to her younger brother. “It’s her first car what were you expecting? Allow her to get a Porsche? At sixteen no less?” She challenged.

Adonis lets out a dry laugh. “A Porsche runs a low risk of breaking down in the middle of the road than that fossil. She can afford it too you know.”

Azalea’s lips curled distastefully as she walked past Adonis back to the garden. “I don’t want her relying on her mother’s money. Money won’t solve all your problems. Now help with the fruit garden please, damn pixies keep stealing the strawberries.” 

_===  
_

“So what do you think I should name it?” Angel asked.

Melissa ceased her fiddling with the radio and turned her attention to her best friend, her eyebrow raised. “What?”

“The car, silly. What do you think I should name it?” Angel repeated.

Melissa shrugged and leaned back into her seat. “Fuck if I know. Something simple I guess, like…like…”

Melissa shifted her eyes around the car before they landed on the mini disco ball and bumblebee picture tag that said ‘BEE-OTCH’ on it, hanging on the review mirror. The picture made her smile.

She also took into account of the cars black and yellow paint job and came up with a name.

“How ‘bout Bumblebee?” She suggested with a grin.

Angel gave Melissa a quick curious look. “Bumblebee?”

“Yeah, why the fuck not? The black and yellow themed paint job and this cute lil thing is a big hint giver.” Melissa flicked the angry bumblebee picture to emphasize her point.

Then, as if on cue, 2000s artist Beyoncé played on the radio.

“ _Say my name, say my name.~”_

The two girls stared at the radio for a few seconds before Mellisa stuck her hand out at it. “See, even the car agrees.”

Angel laughed and nodded her head in agreement. “Alright, Bumblebee it is.”

Angel gently pulled up to the Hideout next to Al’s car, the gravel crunching underneath the tires of the car.

Al and Gwen hopped off the hood of Al’s car as Angel and Melissa made their way out of the car.

Gwen was wearing a pale blue bikini top that stood out against her ghostly skin with denim shorts and flip flops, her ribbon hair tied in a high ponytail. She wore large black sunglasses.

Al wearing simple black swimming trunks, his long pale blonde hair pulled into a top knot.

Al eyed the car with great approval. “Hot damn Angel, this thing is a fucking classic. How much you get for it?”

“$4,000 from a guy who clearly didn’t know it was a classic.” She said as she got the hers and Melissa’s bags out of the backseat while Melissa got the cooler out of the trunk.

“Where are we set up?” Angel asked.

Gwen pointed down to the shore of the lake. “Down there, we already got the grill going.”

Melissa began to walk towards the area with the cooler when she called out from the shore.

“Hey Gwen! You got that good shit you brought last time?” She asked.

Gwen smirked. “Of course, you threatened to suck me dry if I didn’t bring it again last time, remember?”

Angel walked down to the rocky shore with Gwen and Al. There was a mini grill cooking hamburgers and sausages, filling the air around it with a delicious smell. A few feet away from grill were two coolers and in the center of the area was a pile of wood that would probably be used for a bonfire later in the night. Close to the shoreline where a few chairs were laid out. Angel also notice a dock not a few yards away from where they were. 

Angel watched as Al walked towards the largest of the two coolers and opened it and took out a bottle of Jack Daniels, opened it with his teeth, chewed and spit out the crumbled cap and took a long swing of the whisky before tossing the bottle to Angel, who eagerly took a drink from the burning whisky.

“Alright Erinyes, let’s fucking party.”

Gwen turned on a Bluetooth speaker, loud music filling the air and drowning out the sounds of nature, and with it their daily struggles and frustrations.

Gwen dug around the cooler and took out two heavily filled blood bags and handed one to Melissa, who eyed the bag in animalistic hunger. Angel watched in mild fascination as she watched the two girls ripped into the bags hungrily, draining the bags in mere minutes.

Strigoris’ certainly were gluttonous creatures, weren’t they?

Angel smiled widely with excitement as she pulled her dress over her head and kicked off her sandals and ran towards the shore and dived in, with Al in tow.

Just as quickly as she dove into the water, Angel popped out of the water freezing cold and screaming causing the others to look in worry before understanding what she was screaming about and laughed.

“Shut up guys! Mellisa! Get in here and warm the water up before I freeze to death!”

===

As the blood orange sun slowly dipped into the horizon and the silver moon took its place in the sky, The young coven known as the Erinyes continued on with their partying.

They ate, drank, danced, and swam together, sharing laughs and stories and forgetting their troubles.

Gwen drank the angelic blood that made her feel as light as a feather as she twirled and swayed her hips to Lana Del Rey’s ‘This is what makes us girls’, occasionally brushing her fingers through the air that left sparkling snowflakes in the air. She had let her ribbon-like hair out of the tight ponytail and whipped it back and forth.

Even though it took a lot to get a vampire drunk (the amount of alcohol to get one drunk could euthanize an elephant) The mix of intoxicating angel blood did bring a pleasurable buzz that made her temporarily forget about her troubles.

Despite her having the reputation off being the ‘perfect and stone cold ice queen’ in East Wick and Aradia, she really wasn’t.

She was a fraud. A phony.

It was an act she was good at playing. Pretending to have everything under control, pretending not to care what others thought of her, _pretending_ to be perfect.

But tonight she didn’t want to be _perfect_.

She just wanted to forget.

Forget her frequently absent parents, the expectations and pressure of her House to follow the family line of leading Aradia’s military, the fear of telling them that she wants to become a doctor, the fear of being a failure in their eyes, her playing the part of being an ice cold and hard and perfect Cypress.

Tonight she didn’t want to be the Ice Queen Guinevere of House Cypress or Draugr of the Erinyes.

She just wanted to be Gwen.

===

Al was either on his second or third bottle of Jack Daniels, he couldn’t tell and he really didn’t care. He welcomed each burning sensation in his throat and every lapse of memory of his mother, uncles and aunt, and siblings.

He could feel his teeth grow larger and sharper and growled at the thought of his uncles and aunt. He thought that whisky would make him feel numb to the anger and resentment and hate he held for uncles and aunt, but instead It ignited it, like a gasoline being doused on a fire.

Al was the eldest of eight siblings. For some reason, being eldest meant that he has to lead and take care of his family pack, according to his uncles and aunt. His mother wasn’t much help on the subject either.

Al’s father died when he was thirteen-years-old in a highway accident while on his way to get to his wife while she was in labor with their last child; his only and youngest sister.

His mother went into a depressive state, refusing to get out of bed, eat or drink, shower, and care for her children. Since she was in no shape to care for her other children let alone her newborn daughter, it was the perfect moment for his uncles and aunt to crawl out of the woodwork. 

His fathers three younger siblings help were greatly appreciated in the beginning. Aunt Natasha helped care for the newborn baby and helped bath her and made sure she ate. His uncles, Jon, Caleb, and Jason, helped Al with his younger siblings and helped with house repairs.

Then their true colors started to slowly show. It started slowly, Natasha would stop helping with feedings and changes, giving the excuse that his mother was better and could start doing it on her own now even though she wasn’t, and his uncles stopped helping around the house and started to lounge around the house, eating all their food and running their bills higher.

Then the belittling and the verbal abuse came. Jon would call him a ‘pathetic, whimpering pup’, Caleb gave him the nickname ‘Beta Bitch’, Jason would mock his slender build and pale skin and love of music , and when Natasha looked through his datapad’s search history and found a link to a gay pornsite, she referred to him as ‘an omega cocksucker’ (seriously, there was no such things as an alpha or beta or omega in lycan packs).

It wasn’t that they hated him because he was small for a lycan his age, that he had no desire to become the packs leader, his love for music and wanted to be a musician, how he dresses, or because he was gay (it’s the 22nd century’s their above that).

They just simply hated him because he existed.

When they started to direct their verbal assaults towards his younger siblings, he finally snapped. Caleb has called his third youngest sibling, Nathan, ‘a worthless piece of shit’ and in response, Caleb was introduced to Al’s right hook and ended up with a bruised cheek.

Everyone, even Al, was surprised.

But the surprise was short lived when Caleb punched him in the face. Hard.

Al ran to the bathroom with blood dripping down his chin and waited until it was locked to cry.

When his mother eventually did come out of her depression, Al had hoped his steel strong mother would finally kick them out, seeing them for the leeches they were and finally care for her children.

But she didn’t. Her steel strong will had rusted and bended and became dependent on him, her thirteen year old son who was working two jobs to keep up with the bills and put food on the table.

Melissa had once said that it was like some kind of Jocasta complex. How possessive she became of him and always relying on him on emotional and mental support and always switched between calling him ‘her little boy’ or the ‘man of the house’.

He’s seventeen-years-old, damn near eighteen and he had to deal with all this shit.

Even though he loved his mother and younger siblings, he needed to get away from them. He had a plan, but he needed time and help from his coven to get it started.

But for tonight, fuck his mother, his siblings, his responsibilities, his burden, and especially fuck his uncles and aunt.

Al took another swig of the bottle before throwing his head back and howled at the full silver moon, Angel and Melissa joining him.

He just wanted to drink all his heavy weight away.

=== 

Melissa took a final deep breath of her second blunt tonight, exhaling gray smoke from her mouth and nostrils before flicking the butt of the joint into the bonfire. She leaned against a moss covered lodge that she that she found in the words and dragged to the Hideout.

She leaned her head back against the lodge and looked up at the stars.

Her mother kept telling her, for all long as she could remember, that stars meant freedom hope, and that if you reach out long enough, you’ll be free.

Melissa shook her mothers words out of her skull and took a violent swig of vodka.

Wasn’t alcohol made to help you forget? Then why does she still hear her mothers words and face whenever she looked up at the stars or when she stared into a fire for too long.

 _Because you miss her and feel guilty, you stupid stubborn bitch._ A voice in her head sneered.

Mellisa got up with vodka bottle in hand and slowly walked towards the bonfire and seated herself in front of it, seeking comfort in the heat.

She stared at the fire in an almost hypnotic way. Watching the flames twirl in their own dance, spitting out embers that didn’t effect her at all.

As she stared blankly into the flames, she saw a face slowly start to form in it. She couldn’t tell if it was from the alcohol or a way of the fates making her see her past life.

Before she was Melissa Delios.

The face was her mothers. The flames carving her slender delicate face that held her Korean heritage, her cheek bones, her small nose, and her smile.

Melissa looked down to the small, gold crucifix necklace that she played with her fingers. It was her mother’s. She usually hid it behind a glamour so people would avoid asking questions.   
  
She let go of the necklace and hid it behind a glamour again and returned her gaze to the fire. 

The mother of her face vanished and was replaced with the face of a mans. The mans face was handsome but was carved into a cruel and sadistic smile.

She sneered at it.

The cruel mans face in the fire vanished and a lavish mansion took his place.

A few seconds after, she could hear the screams.

Those bloodcurdling, bone-chilling, screams that held true pain and fear in them.

Melissa smiled at the screams.

_Scream you motherfuckers, it’s what you deserved._

The mansion vanished and the flames resumed their delicate and hypnotic dancing.

She turned her head up to the stars again.

_If the stars really do symbolize freedom, than you’re free mom. And me? Well…you know what they say about a Strigori…_

Melissa turned to see Gwen, who was greedily drinking another blood bag filled with angelic blood and pulled back to reveal multiple bloody fangs, and smiled.

Gwen looked up to see Melissa staring at her and reached into a cooler to pull out another blood bag and tossed it to her.

Melissa opened the blood bag, the the intoxicating smell filling her nostrils. Without hesitation, she revealed her long sharp fangs and sunk them into the bag. She let out a groan of pleasure as the thick rich liquid filled her mouth. She preferred the blood hot instead of cold, the thick richness of the blood went so nicely when it was warm, like hot chocolate. Oh, well. 

_We’re hell bound creatures, there’s no freedom for us._

===

Angel stared at the vast black lake, the ripples reflecting the moons silver glow.

She took a bite out of the edible brownie while still strong into the black void that was the night sky.

She was searching for all of the constellations, counting and thinking of the myths associated with them.

_Orion the great hunter, companion of Artemis and tragically died by her own arrow by a jealous Apollo’s boastful bet on who was the best archer, made into a constellation by Zeus after hearing the pleads of his daughter._

_Cassiopeia and Andromeda, the arrogant and vain queen who doomed her daughter to be devoured by the Cetus after proclaiming her daughter was more beautiful than the nereids._

_Taurus, the bull Zeus disguised himself to abduct the beautiful Princess Europa._

_Aquarius, made to honor the beautiful prince Ganymede who had been made to be the cup bearer of the gods._

_The Northern Crown, made in remembrance of king Minos who feed countless innocent people to the Minotaur who dwelled in the labyrinth._

_Heracles, the hero of Greece who was driven mad by his father Zeus’s vengeful wife and killed his family._

Angel counted a total of eight constellations that she could make out, all originating from Greek mythology, all having to do with the same thing.

Beauty. Arrogance. pride. Envy. Lust. Madness.

The ancient Greeks favorite themes.

Angel could understand the appeal that mortals saw in Greek myths and legends.

The legendary hero’s were the ones you cheered one and hoped would win in the end, only to fall to tragedy like so many others before, never to have a ‘happy ending’.

_No hero was every happy._

The gods and goddesses, while ethereal beings that should be above the humans that worshipped them, felt greed, hate, lust, and arrogance, things associated with mortals.

_Making them almost mortals themselves._

After all, what is a god without the worship of mortals who gave them the title of god?

But to Angel and countless other witches in Aradia, these stories, these constellations, were not just myths.

They were their history, their reality.

But things were different now then they were back then.

Back when demigods were worshipped and honored as heroes, were now forbidden from ever entering Aradia. from endangering it and it’s people from the disasters and tragedies and madness that followed them since birth. Angel was not stupid, she and other knew that demigods were in Aradia, but those ones were smart enough to never reveal that ichor ran through their veins.

Back then, when the gods and goddesses were seen as these beings who would never associate with mortals other then to mate, were now patrons who assisted them with their magicks while still being held in high respects and still had their precious altars.

Besides, ever since the Pact of Aradia was made, one of many agreements stayed that no god or goddess were to have children with witches or mortals.

But even with the Pact of Aradia, they still tested its limits.

Everyone knew the gods still bedded witches and mortals alike, but those who fell pregnant with a demigod were often smart enough to send their child to Earth, away from the prosecutions of Aradia.

“Hey Sky, can you promise if one of the Olympians or titans try to implant me with their divine seed, will you turn me into a tree?” She joked while still staring up at the sky.

“ _Nah, sorry kid, you’re on your own if Zeus comes to you as a swan or a cow.”_

“Coward.” Angel laughed and took one last bite of the edible and adjusted herself to be more comfortable, her knees up to her chest with her chin tucked above them and her arms wrapped around her legs.

She looked up to the glittering sky and briefly wondered if Ophiuchus could see her.

_Of course he can, he’s the sky itself._

Ophiuchus was her House’s deity, along with his children, the Serpent Kings; Jörmungandr, Apophis, Leviathan, and Quetzalcoatl.

Apophis was patron to Melissa, Jörmungandr was Azalea’s, Quetzalcoatl was Adonis’s, and Ophiuchus had claimed her the second she as baptized as a true witch.

It didn’t take a genius to know that the moment that Peony was final baptized, Leviathan would claim her as her patron.

Something came to Angel’s mind when thinking about the Serpent Kings, something that made her very uneasy.

There were rumors that the Serpent Kings were originally human, witches, who were apart of House Delios, and that Ophiuchus had been the one that turned them into the giant, powerful, monstrosities they were today.

She had been tempted to ask Ophiuchus if these rumors were true, but held her tongue in fear that he would admit it was.

It was such a pathetic and cowardly fear to have, the fear of the truth. That’s why you have hope.

She didn’t know why she feared truth so much, maybe it’s because she started from knowing nothing to built herself on hope that she knew everything there was to know. Maybe because she knew if she discovered something she thought was truth turned out to be a lie, she would crumble into dust.

After all, she was cursed with seeing and hearing things that were not there, maybe it was the gods why if telling her that she wasn’t seeing things as clearly she thought she had.

Melissa always did say she was blinded by the hope to see good in things, that hope was her weakness. Hope paralyzes you, makes you stay in a fantasy in which the best possible outcome will come true, even though you know it won’t come true.

Perhaps, but what else is there to do besides hope?

Hope for a better day, hope for a better future, and hope to recover the things you lost?

Arete once told her that despair kills Empaths so that’s why you must always have hope, so you do not die from a broken heart.

So she dared to kept holding on to hope.

_And she’ll keeping holding on until her last breath._

===

Later on into the night, the group joined around the bonfire. Angel roasting marshmallows and Mellisa showing off her magick by creating a small Phoenix and having it fly around them, leaving falling cinders behinds it.

The all shared the last bottle of vodka, passing around the bottle as the all took sips, although Al had to forcefully take the bottle from Melissa or she would have drank it empty.

So there they sat, laughing with sticky s’mores in hand, and enjoying the final hour of their time together before they had to go back to their homes.

“Hey Angel, I’ve been meaning to ask, but have you spoken to Lafayette? He hasn’t grouped Skype with us in weeks.” Gwen asked.

Angel stopped chewing on her second s’more and looked at the ground with apprehension. The last time she talked to Laffy was two days ago over the webcam, and ever since then she has had a dark feeling gnawing in her stomach.

Seconds ticked by before Angel swallowed and turned to Gwen with a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I talked to him a few days ago. He just wanted to check in. I’m sure he’s just busy.”

Gwen shifted and turned her head towards the fire, disappointment prickled in her usually composed emotions field.

“Yeah, of course” she almost to hide the disappointment, but Angel picked up on it and Angel felt pang of guilt.

Angel had known about Gwen’s feelings for Lafayette for some time now. She had known from the moment those two meet, when she felt their emotional fields greeted each other and conjoined into one, that they were soulmates.

Angel and Laffy were platonic soulmates, they figured that out when she first met him after he had his first cybernetic surgery when they were children.

Lafayette knew they were platonic soulmates, but was oblivious to the fact that he and Gwen were actual soulmates. The same ones told in stories and what lovers used to proclaim that they were meant to be.

Soulmates were hard to come by, wether they were platonic or romantic.

But even with the rarity, platonic soulmates were far more common. She knew many platonic soulmates but only knew one romantic sloumate couple and that was the two high priestesses of Aradia: Laila and Neferet Bastet.

Unlike High Priestesses Laila and Neferet, Lafayette and Gwen never started an intimate relationship, even though it seemed Gwen wanted too and Lafayette was oblivious.

Angel saw through Gwens too long glances, silent laughs through silly jokes, and poor attempts at skin-to-skin contact.

She also felt her attempts at repressing her jealousy whenever Angel and Lafayette laughed at their inside jokes, constant touching and quick pecks on the cheek or temple, and horse playing

Angel felt bad for Gwen, she didn’t want one of her closest friends to feel that way.

Maybe when Laffy comes back she’ll tell him how Gwen feels about him.

Angel opened her mouth to offer words of comfort to Gwen but was cut off by Melissa.

“Holy fuck I’m hot! fucking fireball makes me feel like I deepthroated a fucking dragon. I need to cool the fuck down before I fucking melt.” Mellisa suddenly shouted, causing Angel to jump.

Melissa shot up and proceeded to…untie her bikini strings and exposed her small pale breasts and tossed the bikini top aside than pulled down her short flamed swimming trunks to her ankles and kicked them aside.

Even though in Aradia culture, where nudity was seen as something natural and not connected to anything sexual, Angel felt heat travel to her face.

“Melissa!”

Melissa, Al, and Gwen laughed. Angel has always been the ‘innocent’ one of the group, blushing and shuddering whenever someone stripped down to their birthday suits.

“Oh come on, Angel. You’ve seen me naked how many times? It’s nothing new you little prude.” Melissa teased, placing her hands on her hips and leaned forward, allowing her breasts to dangle.

Angel’s face became hotter and glared at Melissa. “I-I-I’m not…oh shut up!”

They all laughed again.

Al and Gwen soon followed Melissa’s lead and removed their attires and ran to the black lake and dived in, howling and laughing while leaving a blushing and embarrassed Angel on shore.

She was honestly surprised that she wasn’t blinded by the pale white rears that could’ve been mistaken for small moons.

“Angel come on! Join us!” Al called out from the lake.

“Yeah Angel, get your cute little ass in here!” Melissa hollered.

Angel wrapped a towel around herself to preserve her dignity. “No thanks, I’m good!”

She could hear Melissa let out a ‘boo’ followed by Al splashing her and Melissa ducking his head underwater and letting out a surprised yell when Al picked her up and threw her further in the water.

Angel smiled and chuckled at the scene before laying back down on the towel, stretching her arms out and using her palms to rest her head and continued to look up at the stars.

She could hear water splashing and and feet hitting the sand as her friends approached back to the fire, water soaking their naked forms as they sat back down on the towels and wrapping themselves up with blankets.

“I’m gonna miss this when we all leave for college.” Angel admitted.

“We all are, why do you think we try do this so often?” Al said, taking a sip from the vodka bottle.

Angel frowned at the sky before flipping onto her belly and facing her friends.

“We’re sticking to the plan right?” Angel asked.

Gwen raised a confused brow. “What do you mean, Angel?”

“I mean are we still sticking to our guns.” She said before turning her gaze to Al.

“Al you’re going to California to study music.”

Angel pointed to Gwen. “Gwen you’re going to Harvard to become a doctor.”

Angel fixed her her attention to Melissa. “And you’re going to NYC to became a writer and I’m going to MIT. We are still on that right?”

There was silence besides the cackling of wood from the fire and Al twirling the almost empty vodka bottle with a shameful look on his face.

Angel looked at him nervously before noticing that Gwen shared the same look as Al’s.

“I’m not... sure about that Angel. I haven’t even told my mom that I’ve applied to colleges.” Al admitted.

“Same here with mine. They still think I wanna go to Aradia to start training after graduation.” Gwen confessed.

Angel could feel the embarrassment, guilt, and shame emanating from them and had to rapidly blink the tears away.

The tears were not her own, but rather theirs. Tears they wanted so desperately to shed.

She forced an effortless smile and sent them a wave of encouragement and comfort.

“Hey, come you two lighten up, there’s still time left to tell them. I’m sure they’ll understand if you wanna go down a different path.” She said.

Al and Gwen felt the comfort and encouragement that Angel sent and each gave her an appreciative smile.

Melissa broke the peaceful silence. “So is this the part where we all kiss and have a orgie?”

“Melissa!” 

After some time, finishing the last bottle of vodka and sharing more laughs and recalling memories, Angel realized it was nine-thirty.

“Ah crap, sorry guys, time to go. Theía Azalea is gonna kill us if were not back before ten.”

After some exaggerated groans, mostly from Melissa, the gang got up from their comfortable spots from the fire and began to dress and pack up.

Al walked up to his car with cooler in hand while Melissa packed up the left over food in their cooler, Angel shook the sand off the towels before stuffing them in the bags, and Gwen got rid of the bottles and put out the fire.

Al popped open the trunk of his car and placed the cooler inside before closing. He walked to the driver side and opened and turned the key in the ignition. When the engines roared to life, the radio blasted.

“- _And now words from Senator Keller, live from the pentagon on news of this recent attack on a U.S base.”_

As person over the radio spoke, Angel and Melissa and Gwen were walking up to the two cars, Melissa carrying a cooler and Angel and Melissa with the bags.

A different mans voice came over the radio, it sounded old and carried a slight southern accent.

“ _Good evening, ladies and gentlemen_ , _it is with great sorrow and guilt that I must inform you of the recent tragedy we have experienced in the last twenty-four hours.”_

Everyone paused what they were doing and stared at the radio in confusion, a tension hovered over them.

Recent attack? Tragedy? What was going on? What happened?

Angel felt a dark feeling begin to gnaw at her stomach as she felt a sudden breeze of cold engulf her, her fingers became icicles, and she could see her breath in the summer night.

_Please not now._

_“As we have learned today, at 1900 local time yesterday, the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar was attacked by an unidentified enemy.”_

There was a pause over the radio, a tension began to build up between the young teens.

Angel felt a shiver run up her back, the dark feeling slowly chewing its way up from her stomach to her chest.

“ _We have made numerous attempts to make contact the Qatar base with no success.”_

Angel’s frosted breaths became ragged, she could feel the ice from her fingers travel up to her wrists and the dark feeling ripping through her rib cage and lungs she could feel it, staring hungrily at her heart, waiting for the perfect moment to devour it, to tear into its fragile muscle with its razor sharp teeth.

“ _We have checked the S.O.L chips that are placed into U.S. soldiers when they join the military so their movements can be traced.”_

Through the thick ice that encased her entire frame and the darkness’s pointed teeth hovering over her fragile heart, she felt a warm glow emanate from her chest.

It was hope.

_Sweet, fragile hope._

She thought she could feel Melissa’s hand on her frost covered shoulder and hear Gwen calling her name and Al frantically calling someone, theía Azalea probably.

 _“However, all signals of all S.O.L chips have been disconnected and the chips themselves have been announced destroyed._ ”

Angel felt the icy cold breeze cruelly blow out the dim warm light in her chest.

_“All members of of the SOCCENT Forward Operations have been pronounced dead. Our thoughts and prays our with the families of these brave men and women who have lost there lives. Please rise in honor as we list the names.”_

And just like that, the darkness finally sank it’s long and sharp teeth into her ice covered heart, tearing into and shattering the blood organ into meat filled ice chunks. 

Although her tear ducts were frozen, she felt icy tears roll down her cheeks.

Her breathing ceased as the national anthem played in a fuzzy blur and the names of the lives lost were called out.

“ _Members of Squad One: Captain William Lennox, Technical Sergeant Robert Epps, Technical Officer Jorge Figueroa, and expert marksman Lafayette Belrose.”_

Without warning, Angel turned and ran into the dark and dense forest.

She knew they would follow, call out her name and try to stop her from hurting herself, but she didn’t care.

Let them chase.

Tears fell from her lashes as she ran and ran and ran. Where she was running to, she didn’t know, all she wanted to do was to get away.

Runaway from the truth.

As she continued to run towards her unknown destination, Senator Keller’s words bounced around in her skull in a painful loop.

“ _it is with great sorrow and guilt that I must inform you of the recent tragedy…”_

Tragedy? Is that all he can call the death of her best friend?! Her brother?! A tragedy?!

Wait!...No…No don’t think like that… he isn’t dead… He couldn’t be dead…He promised he’d come back. He promised!

Angel could hear them calling out to her as the wind blew into her ears and as twigs and low branches snapped by either by her feet, stabbing and poking her exposed skin, or when they slapped her legs and arms and face, leaving small red cuts that stung.

 _“We have made numerous attempts to make contact the Qatar base with no success… all signals of all S.O.L chips have been disconnected and the chips themselves have been announced destroyed._ ”

No! They just didn’t try hard enough to find survivors!

They can’t just give up and pronounce them dead!

He isn’t dead…He couldn’t be dead…He promised.

As Angel mindlessly ran through the forest, she hadn’t noticed that it had begun to rain heavily, wetting the earth.

“ _All members of of the SOCCENT Forward Operations have been pronounced dead… expert marksman Lafayette Belrose.”_

Another burning croak escaped her throat and she sealed her eyes tightly, letting more tears fall, as an intense pool of anger, grief, and pain began to form in her chest. It was so intense that it felt like it was forcefully expanding her rib cage to make more room for all the pain and grief.

As she croaked and cried, three sentences echoed in her head.

“Pronounced dead…Expert marksman Lafayette Belrose.”

“Dead…Lafayette Belrose.”

“Dead…Lafayette.”

She let out a pathetic, long, high-pitched whine as the painful truth finally set in.

_Laffy was dead._

“ _Bitlet, what’s going on? What’s wrong?_ ” Trevors sudden, booming voice caused Angel to snap out of her mindless running and let out a small scream of surprise before tripping over an exposed tree root and falling into a small muddy puddle, her legs and forearms sinking into the mud and making the fresh cuts burn and sting.

Her shivering body rocked with each sob and heave she took, she could barely breath, the grief seemed determined to suffocate her. The pain and misery expanding within her chest as she laid in the mud while the rain continued to poor.

Angel let out a choked sob as struggled to support herself on her open palms and knees in the mud. Her wet, tangled hair fell into one side as she continued to sob.

“ _Pronounced dead…Expert marksman Lafayette Belrose.”_

“ _Girl, what’s happening_?” Star asked in an authoritative tone.

Angel’s reply was her continued sobs and cries.

“ _Pipsqueak, what’s wrong_?” Sky inquired.

“H-H-He…He’s…Gone.” She sobbed between chattering teeth.

“ _What are you talking about? Answer me girl_.” Star said impatiently.

“ **He’s gone!!!”** She screamed into the earth below her.

Her scream was so powerful and loud it was as if a banshee had produced the unnatural and earth-shattering scream that caused the puddle to produce ripples from the strong sound waves and the nearby birds to squawk and fly away from their branches in fright as she continued to scream.

After she was done screaming, Angel coughed dryly from the burning in her throat. 

Angel continued to look down blankly at the puddle beneath her as her tears fell from her lashes and mixed with the dirty water.

The expanding pain her chest was still there but she wasn’t focused on it.

All that was on Angel’s mind was Lafayette.

_Sweet, gentle Lafayette._

Lafayette who’s been her best friend, her brother, since they were children.

Lafayette who helped her from the ground up ever since she lost her memories.

Lafayette who let her curl next to him and held her as she cried her troubles, her worries, and her fears.

_Lafayette who was dead._

She unwilling thought of the moments that lead up to his death, fat tears spilling from her eyes as horrible scenarios flashed across her mind.

How did he die? Was he shot or blown up? Was he alone? Was he afraid? Was he trying to call out to her as he took his final breaths?

She thought back to her dream, of Lafayette so many years ago, pleading and bleeding and reaching out for her. His words echoed in her head.

“ _Angel…Help…Help me, please._ ”

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, Laffy.”

There was a sudden flash of lightening followed by a crash of thunder and the distant and frantic calling of her friends.

Angel kneeled down further to the wet ground so that her forehead was touching a small patch of grass.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry…Lafayette forgive me.” She croaked out.

Another flash of lightning brightened the dark forest for an instance, than all of a sudden the expanding pain that has been residing in her chest finally imploded.

Angel screamed.

But this scream was different from the first one.

This one was many octaves higher, to the point that a nail scratching on a chalkboard wouldn’t come close to how high it was.

It was truly inhuman, no other creature could ever create the scream that echoed throughout the forest.

With in this scream also carried with it pain and grief. The agony in this scream was skinned raw. It was so incoherent, so resonating, and so primal.

The scream carried powerful sound waves throughout the forest that it traveled back to the Hangout, and shattered both car windows to tiny crystals. 

Angel’s scream lasted for now more than a minute before it finally died, making a few pathetic croaks and coughs, blood spilling from her lips from her throat being torn open, and a released a few sobs before the world around her began to spin.

The last thing she remembered was the wet earth colliding with her face before everything went black.

===

“God fucking damnit! Where the fuck is she?!” Melissa growled, her voice tight in order to control her own frantic worry.

Al lifted his nose up to the raining sky and loudly sniffed a few times before letting out a growl of frustration. “I can’t pick up her scent. The damn rain is blocking it.”

Melissa hissed as lightening flashes and thunder clapped loudly above them.

They’ve been searching for Angel for more than fifteen minutes after they heard the news on the radio and she took off and couldn’t find her, the rain also wasn’t helping them in this case.

A thousand possibilities of where her best friend could be and how she was doing flashed in her head like a projector during a presentation.

She could have fallen in a mud pit, or knocked herself unconscious if she tripped in fell, she could have…she could have.

But Melissa didn’t want to go use of those possibilities of what _could_ happen when she already knew what _was_ happening.

Angel was having an episode.

Lafayette, her platonic soulmate and the only person who knew anything about her past, was dead.

And if what the people of Aradia say is true about what happens when one soulmate, platonic or not, dies, and the other still lives, then she’ll…

Stop, just find her and her her back to the house. Azalea and the other will know what to do… right?

Melissa, Al, and Gwen continued to run through the dense forest, searching for my signs of their missing friends

“She couldn’t have gotten far.” Gwen stated.

“She could have and she probably has by now,” Al stated. “Mel, do you where she would have-“

Al was cut off by a scream.

The scream was pure _terror_ that turned her blood into ice.

It was so high pitched it almost sounded like bad brakes on a car being used, but so much higher.

It was so incoherent, so primal that is made everyone freeze.

Melissa’s limbs felt like they were encased in cement, her heart rapidly beating in her chest, she wanted to move but she found herself unable to.

For some reason, she felt _fear_ course through her veins and had primal urge to _run_.

And she was guessing by the confused and fearful expressions on Gwen and Al, they felt the same way.

The scream lasted for less than a minute before it finally died down. A few moments after it finally stopped, they were finally able to move and fully comprehend what happened.

“What the fuck just happened?” Al asked as he was breathing deeply from…whatever just happened.

“I don’t know, doesn’t sound like any creature I’ve heard of.” Gwen answered, doing a good job hiding her fright.

Realization struck Melissa like a train. What ever had made that sound was probably close to Angel.

“Angel!” Melissa called out as she ran towards the direction where the scream came from, her legs feeling like jelly from being frozen, with Gwen and Al hot in her tail.

They continued to run as the rain poured down on them, nearly blinding them.

When Melissa made it to a small clear she saw something white laying next to a puddle.

 _Angel_.

Melissa jumped over exposed tree roots and lodges to make it towards Angel, landing on her knees close to her best friend and picked her up, pulled into her lap, and began to shake her.

“Angel, Angel wake! Angel!” Melissa all but begged, shaking Angel’s unconscious form.

Angel had small angry red cuts all over her and was covered in mud, her black hair soaking wet and mattered. She had a trail of blood spilling from the side of her mouth.

Melissa turned back from the path she came from and called out, “Al! Gwen!” before turning her attention back to Angel.

With Angel still cradled in her arms, Melissa got on one knee before lifting herself up from the ground, nearly slipping on the soaked earth before finding her balance and making her way out of the clearing.

When she finally made her way out of the clearing, Al and Gwen looked very confused and concerned as Melissa carried her unconscious best friend out of the forest and towards Angel’s car, who along with Al’s had their windows shattered, but she paid now mind to them and pinned it on the scream from earlier.

As Melissa walked to the camaro’s passenger side, Gwen jogged up to it and made a few quick hand gestures that made the shattered glass slowly float up to the open windows and crystallizing into their original plane of glass form.

Gwen opened the door and Melissa carefully placed Angel inside.

“I’m gonna drive back to the house, you guys follow behind.” Melissa said as she buckled Angel and slammed the door and jogged to the drivers side.

Al and Gwen ran to the black impala and quickly followed behind as Melissa drove out of the Hangout and out of the main road.

Melissa gave a quick glance at Angel, who was still unconscious. Her head was laying against the window, her mattered hair swaying with each turn they took and each bum they hit.

What the fuck was she going to tell them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ S.O.L - State of Location, chips out in soldiers to track their movement. 
> 
> ~ This story takes place in the year 2107, references to the 90s, 80s, etc. are referring to the 2000s unless stated otherwise.


	4. Tears in Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ya-ya Arete always said that despair kills empaths. 
> 
> That grief can make an empath drown themselves with their own tears. 
> 
> She was right.
> 
> Everyone thought she was mad.
> 
> No one could see the truth and wisdom in her ‘insane ramblings’. 
> 
> Now here I am, plagued with madness and drowning in my own tears. 
> 
> The tears of an empath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my beautiful readers~ I’m happy to announce another chapter! 
> 
> A slight warning that there are some disturbing thoughts here and nothing more. 
> 
> Please remember to leave kudos on the way out.
> 
> Enjoy~

Peony closed her eyes, slowly inhaling a deep breath before exhaling and reopening her eyes. She slowly raised her arms, her slender fingers gracefully dabbing and fluttering in the air as she focused her attention on a small area of the large pond and muttered a few incantations. A few moments passed before the water burbled and slowly began to rise up. Peony felt her heart began to thump against her rib cage with glee.

It was working! She was finally doing it! 

She continued to slowly raise her arms over her head and as she did, the water continued to burble violently until a sphere begin to slowly lit itself from the water. As it did, a wide smile began to form on Peony’s lips. 

But just as the sense of accomplishment appeared, the sphere bursted and the water fell into the pond with a loud splash. 

Peony’s face fell into a grim and disbelieving expression before her lips curled into an hateful sneer and slapped the water. How hard was it to lift a ball of water a couple feet above a pond? The answer was apparently ‘too fucking hard’. It was a simple magick that every witch with a connection to water could do, but yet here she was, four hours into her practice and no progress. 

Peony let out a frustrated groan and hide her face between her knees. 

What kind of witch was she when she couldn’t even do a magick that first years could do?

“Perhaps you should move on. Maybe you could practice your healing magick? Or perhaps how to purify water?” 

“No, Theisi, I have to be able to use actual water magick, not some silly nymph trick.” Peony suddenly tensed, instantly regretted the harsh words that left her lips and slowly moved her head towards her friend. 

If Theisi was at all hurt by Peony’s words, she hid it well behind a sweet and patient smile. Peony felt a pang of guilt in her chest. Theisi was a bit of a ditz, but she always meant well. 

Theisi was a naiad, a nymph of freshwater, her domain was a beautiful pond filled pink water lilies resting on lily pads, cattails, pretty scaled fishes, and slimy frogs and salamanders. The water was a clean, crystal blue without signs of duckweeds and muckgrass or java moss. The pond was surrounded by bushes of spirea, butterfly bush, and crape myrtle with an ancient willow tree that hunched over the pond. The sounds of crickets and croaking of frogs and the boots of owls and other nocturnal creatures made the atmosphere peaceful. 

It was a true work of nymph art.   
  
The pond was just as beautiful as it’s guardian. 

Theisi had flowing light blonde hair that held soft waves and stopped at her thighs with small pink and white flowers intertwined in her locks. A short, thin, pink tunic with random long strands of fabric flowing behind her clung to her delicate frame. Her skin was very fair, being illuminated by the lantern. Her cheeks were a fresh and virgin-rosy, her eyes were blue and large, and her smile was wide and bright (her smile reminded her of Angel), making her look quite childlike. 

Peony found the analogy quite fitting given that Theisi was the youngest of the naiad sisters, being the under-looked youngest sister of two greater ones was something they bonded over many times. That was why Theisi agreed to be her mistress because according to her, “The underdog is the one that holds the most potential.” 

And yet here she was, throwing a fit over a spell and feeling like the one person who sees potential in her to be something greater, to help fulfill her dreams of becoming a sea witch, was wasting her time.   
  
Peony let out a heavy sigh and rested her chin on her knees. “I’m sorry Theisi, I’m just so fucking frustrated that I can’t even do this one, simple spell. I’m just so fucking done. This is never going to work.” She confessed. 

Theisi gave a sympathetic smile and made her way towards her, her bare feet crunching beneath the soft grass, and sat down beside her. 

“If you keep thinking such negative thoughts, their bound to come true. You’ve made it this far, don’t give up.” Theisi sweetly encouraged. 

“No offense, Theisi, but knowing how to heal and use water as a looking glass isn’t exactly a big milestone.” Peony grumbled.

Theisi pouted at Peony’s harsh words before regaining her bright, hopeful smile. “You just haven’t had your Awakening yet. I promise you the minute you get a stressor or your menses, you’ll become the most powerful sea witch in all of Aradia! You could even become the next Supreme!” she said enthusiastically. 

Peony made an exaggerated shiver of disgust travel down her back. “If the gods are good, I hope it’s a stressor that causes my Awakening and not my period.” 

“What’s wrong with having your menses trigger your Awakening, Peony?” A voice asked, making Peony and Theisi turn their heads to the source of it. 

Close to the shore of the pond, stood a young woman with thick brown hair that was as long as a horse’s tail and held soft waves and behind each ear was a white calla lily. Her gown was long and flowy and made of a thin, cream colored fabric. Much like her sister, she possessed very fair skin and high cheekbones, but had pale green eyes lined with kohl and held a sterner expression. 

She was Calypise, Theisi’s older sister.  
  
Theisi gave her sister a look as Peony sighed and spoke. “There’s nothing wrong with having menses triggering someone’s Awakening, Calypise. I just don’t want to be in swim club, doing laps in the pool and all of the sudden aunty flo comes by for a visit and the pool ends up lookin’ like a shark and a seal got into it in there.” 

Theisi laughed and Calypise’s face twisted into a confused expression, obviously not understanding Peony’s joke. 

“Menses is a perfectly natural way for a witch to begin her Awakening, there’s no shame in something that has been happening since the beginning of witch kind.” Calypise lectured. 

Theisi took a certain delight in watching Peony groan with embarrassment and buried her hot face in her palms as Calypise continued to lecture on about the history of menses connected to a witches ‘primal need for release’. 

“Oh stop it you two, you’re embarrassing the poor girl.” A female voice softly ordered. 

Ah, yes. Peony was wondering when she would finally show up.

The middle nymph sister, Archaeia, slowly emerged from the pond, the water splashing and dripping as she walked out. She had a pink water lily in her long, wet copper red hair that stopped at her thighs (what was it with nymphs and long hair?). Her wet short, thin teal tunic clung tightly to her delicate, curvy frame. Just like her two sisters, she possessed fair skin, but shared the same pale blue eyes as Theisi. 

Droplets continued to fall from Archaeia’s frame and hair as she sashayed her way towards them. 

“Honestly, Calypise, it’s just like the time when you told her how the Minotaur of Crete came to be or how Hekate’s weasel gives birth.” She said as she leaned against the willow tree. 

Theisi let out final laugh and watched as Calypise rolled her eyes and shook her head as she and Archaeia got into it. 

Theisi stopped laughing when she saw Peony’s distressed state.

“Alright, enough you two, the poor girl is going to pass out from all the blood rushing to her head.” Theisi said in a gentle tone. 

Archaeia stopped her teasing and Calypise softened her stern gaze slightly when their gazes fell on Peony, who had buried her face between her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs as she rocked back and forth. 

“Oh, I’m sorry dear. We were just meant it in good fun, that’s all.” Archaeia said. 

Peony said nothing, her head still in between knees.

Calypise shifted her weight to one hip and crossed her arms. “Alright, something is obviously eating you up inside. What is it?” 

Several moments past, the croaking of frogs and the buzzing of bugs filled the silence between them before Peony lifted her head up to face them with an gloomy expression. She let out an exhausted sigh as she crossed her legs.

“I’m just tired. Just _so_ bloody tired and fed up. I’m almost fifteen and I haven’t had my period or my Awakening when the other first year girls in the House of Night have, it’s embarrassing. It’s pathetic. _I’m_ pathetic.” Peony confessed, trying hard to keep from voice from quivering. 

She was a disgrace. She a member of House Delios, one of the greatest houses of Aradia, and yet here she was, damn near fifteen and hadn’t had her Awakening. 

She could hear the whispers from the kids at school and the House of Night and feel their stares from the back of her head. It was even worse at the House of Night, the academy in Aradia for blossoming witch’s, a school she has attended every weekend and every summer for the last two years and has to continued attending for the next four years. 

She was the laughing stock of her house. 

Theisi pulled Peony into side hug, her floral scent filling her nostrils. Peony bit her bottom lip to prevent a croak from escaping her lips. 

Theisi rubbed Peony’s arm in comforting manner and kissed the top of her head. “It’s alright Peony, there’s still time,” She said softly. “Soon you’ll have your Awakening and be baptized as an official princess of House Delios and every sea deity will be pining after you to become your patron. Just you wait and see. Just you wait.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Peony laughed to herself bitterly as she pulled her legs up to her chest.

An uneasy silence fell between them. It was obvious that the three nymphs wanted to say something but held back in fear of upsetting their young friend even more. 

Their silence was broken when Peony’s phone began to ring, startling Calypise and Archaeia. They would never get use to or understand mortal technology. 

Peony grumbled as she dug into her bag, retrieved it, the screen simple read ‘mom. Peony rolled her eyes and groaned as she pressed the answer button and put it to her ear. 

“Hello?” Peony said, rubbing her suddenly heavy eyes but they shot open at her mothers raised voice. Her mother’s voices was so loud that it even startled the nymphs.   
  
“Peony, whatever you’re doing stop. You need to come home right now.” She sounded like she was trying to regain whatever composure she had left. 

“Wait, mom, hold on. What’s wrong? What going on?” Peony asked in concern. Her mom sounded frantic. She was _never_ frantic.

Something happened. 

Azalea snapped, “Peony I cant tell you over the phone, just get home now. Angel had an episode and Melissa said she’s not responding. Just get home!” 

Peony didn’t have to be told twice. 

Peony swung her bag over her shoulders and grabbed the lantern and ran, phone still over her ear. She could hear the sisters call out to her, asking what was wrong and what was happening but she ignored them and continued to run. 

The lantern rocked back and forth, it’s handle creaking as she ran through the woods. She ran past loud buzzing cicadas and hooting owls and other nocturnal animals that scurried off when Peony flew past them and occasionally startling a dryad. 

She knew this forest well, she has been coming into these woods since she was ten-years-old. She knows every hidden path and which one took her home faster and followed those ones, all the while, she still had the phone to her ear. 

“Mom! Please, can you tell me what the hell is going on?! Is Angel okay?!” 

“Peony, something happened to Lafayette, Angel heard about on the radio and had a breakdown, okay, I can’t tell everything over the phone, just please get here and have your healing magick ready when Angel gets here. I have to call Baba Yaga to see what to do, come home safe.” Azalea said, her voice strained with effort to keep calm before hanging up. 

Peony continued to run, a million questions bouncing around in her skull.

_Would Angel be okay?_

_What happened to Lafayette?_

These two questions repeated in her mind, fear gripping her her in a python grip as she continued to run home.   
  


===  
  


Angel couldn’t remember getting into the car with Melissa. She could vaguely recall Melissa calling Theía Azalea, what they said she couldn’t tell but she could only hear the franticness in her voice. 

She could recall the drive by the sharp turns and the speeding whenever her body jolted. During those times, she swore she could feel the seatbelt tightened around her torso. 

Angel couldn’t recall Melissa getting her out of the car and gently leading her inside the house.   
  
However, She could hear the worried and frantic voices of her aunt and uncle and grandmother and sisters, though they sounded far away. 

So far, _far_ , away. 

She couldn’t feel anyone’s emotional filed, not even her own. Her senses were slowly failing. Her tears had long stopped falling. The pain in her chest was numbing. She could feel her heart lying dead inside her ribcage. Her gaze fell on nothing.

She was dead. As far as everyone else was concerned, she died when Lafayette died. Her heart stopped beating when his did, she took her last breath when he did, her soul left her body and went to Underworld when his did. 

She was nothing but a broken, lifeless husk. 

She was broken. Not damaged. 

_Broken_.

She swore she could feel Peony feel her using her healing magick on her, healing the small cuts and bruises covering her body. 

She thought she could feel her grandmother carefully leading her to a bath and washing the mud off of her and gently brushing her matted hair and delicately braiding it down to her back. 

Is that Baba Yaga’s voice in the background? Is that her talking to her family? Is that her soft, withered on her forehead? Is that her chanting in old Slavic? 

It didn’t matter now, the dead could not understand what goes on among the living.

She didn’t know how long her corpse sat there, possibly to the early hours of the next morning. She thought she could see Azalea, Melissa, and Peony sleeping on the near by couches. 

Why would they stay with a corpse? Have they gone mad as well?

Some how her lifeless body had managed to find itself in Lafayette’s bedroom. Moonlight filled the empty and cold room, the smell of his cologne lingered in the air. Her corpse some how Mande its way to his bed, gently laid itself on his bed, curled itself onto one side, and wrapped itself up with the covers like a cocoon. 

Against her will, memories of Lafayette began to flood her subconsciousness, his sunshine smile haunting her. 

Lafayette who helped her piece together her memories of her shattered mind after she woke up with no recollection of who she was when he also had amnesia. 

Lafayette who stayed up with her at night when the monsters came and took his family oath to become her champion. 

Lafayette who’s smile warmed her up during her dark days. 

Lafayette who would never come back. 

Fresh, hot tears began to pool in her eyes. She hurried her head deep within the pillows and cried and cried and _cried_. 

“ _On this day forward, I shall be your defender…Your loyal protector…Your champion._ ”

She didn’t know when she started to scream, her guess it had been for some time because her throat had gone hoarse and dry and her teeth got caught in the pillow.

“ _I take this oath, born from the river of Styx, that I, Lafayette Belrose, shall become the protector of princess Angelique of the House Delios.”_

She continued to cry and scream, a collage of Lafayette’s kind eyes and warm smile flashing in her mind. She cried so hard she was certain that her tears would fill up the room and drown her. She could head the voices lingering in the back of her head, like they wanted to speak but couldn’t or wouldn’t.

 _“I am yours to command. I am your shield, your sword, against those who wish harm upon you. I shall be your shadow, to always follow you, never to stray away. Even to the gates of Heaven, to the bowels of hell, to the pits of Tartarus, I will always be with you._ ”

Some time pasted, and Angel was still coiled in the blankets but stopped crying, her eyes resumed to staring into nothingness. She swallowed her salvia, wetting her throat, and flipped over to a cold and unused side of the bed. 

She thrashed in the covers and curled into the fetal position, waiting for the darkness to take her from this cruel reality. 

_“My dearest Angelique, who I have known since we were children, and who I have loved as a sister. I am now your champion, to call upon whenever you need me. Whether as a protector, a brother, a friend, or perhaps something more. I will be there for you, always._ ” 

She swore she could feel _his_ presence. She thought she could see liquid gold hair and eyes glowing in the dark, his gaze intently on her. She thought she could feel his fingers through her hair and feel his hot stone touch on her forehead and whispering some ancient incantation. She thought she could feel his lips on her forehead when he was done and he left. 

His incantation must have been a sleeping spell, because suddenly she grew tired.

As her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, she thought she heard another voice. It sounded just like hers. It kept repeating the same thing over and over and over again. 

_He isn’t dead…He isn’t dead…He isn’t dead…._

===

  
Frenzy grew giddy with nerves as he traveled down to the where all the data storages were kept on the airplane.

His vocalizer let out involuntary clicks and other unrecognizable noises as he carefully traveled down the corridors, narrowly avoiding the humans on board. 

When Frenzy finally made it to his destination, he made sure to look around for any humans before locking the room, leaving only him inside. 

Frenzy cracked his ‘knuckles’ and began to rapidly type on the holoscreen and pressed various buttons before transforming his right servo into a long needle and sticking it inside a data-port. 

Images and files flashed across the screen as Frenzy continued to press more buttons and type on the holoscreen keyboard until he finally found what he was looking for; Project Iceman. 

Frenzy let out a scream as information began to fill his processor, downloading and saving every file, every synapse firing and creating sparks of pain in his processor. 

The Blind Prophet. Project Iceman. Sector Seven. 

Frenzy continued to let out yells of pain as the information was being jammed into his processor until the flow of information suddenly stopped. 

He clicked confusingly at the screen as he scanned the information presented. It was an article titled ‘First woman explorer goes mad, alleges alien life forms will come to Earth’ with a picture of a woman with her dark hair pinned back, wearing a suit and glasses next to another photo of cybertronian glyphs.

Frenzy looked at the information in the file. 

**Project Iceman-specimen discovered: August 3rd, 2095. Found in Connecticut, USA.**

Frenzy punched the screen, frustrated and unsatisfied with the information. 

Then the alarm went off and heard shouting and rapid for steps coming to where he was. He cursed and went to hide, just in time when the door was thrown open and two human males with guns entered.

One human saw the screen, obviously tampered, and spoke into his hidden wire. “Someone’s tampered with the POTUS mainframe.” 

It was quiet when Frenzy released an involuntary click and cursed again, drawing the attention of the two humans. 

“What the-?!” The human began before shooting at Frenzy, who dogged the bummers effortlessly and shot out throwing stars from his chassis at the humans, effectively killing them. 

Frenzy made his way to the dead human who shot him first and spat curses at him. Damn, humans…

Then he was suddenly shot in the back, causing him to launch foreword, pain shooting through his shoulder and arm. 

The new human continued to shot at him, causing Frenzy to back away in the corner before her shot out his throwing stars at the human.

When the human dropped dead, Frenzy ran down the hall and quickly transformed into his alt-mode, a vintage CD boom box, and hid in the storage area.

He silently spat out curses to the passing humans and sent a message over the com-link to his current partner. 

‘ _Have the information, humans doing emergency landing. Be there.’_

 _===  
_  
Meanwhile, the decepticon scout known as Barricade was disguised as a police cruiser and waited outside of Air Force One along with countless other emergency vehicles, so he blended right in.

His holoform, a young man dressed in a police uniform with jet black shaggy hair and pale skin and wearing tinted sunglasses though there was no reason to wear them at night, waited in his cruiser with anirritated and impatient look on his face. _  
_

The little glitch was supposed to be here by now, what was taking him so long? How hard is it to hack into human technology?

His engines moaned, which could have been mistaken for a sigh as he forced himself to relax. 

Barricade wasn’t sure if it was irritation plaguing his nerves or if it was nervousness or anticipation as he waited for the minicon. 

A few earth hours ago, he was commed by Knockout that Starscream and his trine had suffered from a severe spark bond collapse and all three were admitted to the medbay, screaming and wailing and clawing at their chassis. 

The bond had been broken, they had lost her for second time. 

The thought made Barricade grip his stealing wheel in anger and growled.

Starscream had made an attempt to rekindle the bond but was immediately rejected. Knockout speculated that a spark mode collapse this severe, meant that she was dead.

She was gone. 

Barricade was snapped back into reality when his passenger door was quickly opened and shut and he turned to see a rapid cursing Frenzy flipping off the humans. 

“What did you find?” Barricade asked with an edge in his tone. 

Frenzy turned to the MDT and typed rapidly on the computer and shuttered out in their cybertronian language. “ _Glasses belonging to Arete Delios. A famed human explorer who went mad in 1897 and later committed to an asylum in 1907-“_

“That’s not useful, what else is there? Is there a location of the glasses or anything?” Barricade snapped at his partner. They were running out of time. 

Frenzy sputtered out “ _Children of Arete Delios are Theia, Cassandra, and Akil Delios. Her known descendants are her eldest’s, Theia Delios’s children, which are Azalea and Adonis Alvarez. Azalea has one daughter, Peony, and Adonis also has one daughter, Melissa.”_

Frenzy typed and pulled up a blog titled ‘TheBitchesOfEastwick.com’ ran by a ‘Ladiesman217’ and pulled up a photo that was recently added. 

It was a girl holding up Captain Delios’s glasses. 

So the girl was Ladiesman217, she should be easy to track and get the glasses.

Frenzy tapped on the computer some more and turned the screen towards him, where a map was displayed with a GPS locator on. 

“ _This is the address. Go! Go! Go_! 

Barricade didn’t have to be told twice, he speeded off so fast that scorch marks and smoke trailed behind him as he and Frenzy made their way to Eastwick, Nevada.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, have a wonderful day/night!
> 
> Also, I’d love to hear your theories on who Angels mysterious visitor was.


End file.
